Photographs by Kang

So here’s the situation. Armed police officers have been using laws to search, arrest, detain and stop photographers both amateurs and award wining pros from making photographs in public. There’s something a little disturbing to find that one has to look over one’s shoulder just to take snapshots while in public. So in an effort to hit back at the lunacy, PHNAT has invited everyone with a passion for the photography to gather at a mass photo gathering to stand in support for street photography, and to defend our rights, to simply photograph. I love street photography. I love that things are always in motion around me. I love that I feel so alive when trying to capture the life and times. The streets are beautiful you know, there’s always something happening, some decisive moment that I am missing at every second corner and out on the streets, photographing people and how they interact with the world makes me feel so humble, so small and realise that I am a part of a grand scheme of things.

Some 2000 photographers descended upon Trafalgar Square at high noon on an overcast Saturday afternoon. I have never seen so many cameras concentrated in one location before. All the L lenses were out on the occasion, the Nikons certainly did not disappoint either, and the Leica Louts were standing tall and proud. There was a general atmosphere of warmth and I could tell that everybody loved their craft, be it a hobby or profession, everybody had a common passion to make photographs. Naturally, the first thing I did when I got there was to simply take pictures, and I was not alone. I could hear a harmonious wave of shutters going off. I felt comfortable, like we were one big family, and it was an amazing feeling to have the approval of everybody around us, when we wanted to take a picture. It was like being at the largest ever photo walk, and everybody knew what to do – everybody was photographing everybody else. I love photography, and today I realised I was not alone. We are photographers, we are not terrorist. And so I was glad to have attended and support this rally. I hope this set of black and whites documenting what I saw goes a little in helping the campaign and to helping those in power understand why we love taking photographs.Hope you’ll enjoy this one folks.

I’m a huge fan of The Americans, it is my favourite photo book of all time. I think of it as the classic paper movie and Robert Frank’s cinematic style is a massive influence on my work. I only wish I could capture a little bit of Robert Frank’s magic, but the man has an eye for not only a personal moment, but also a skill in creating atmosphere when he makes the viewer see his photographs in the sequence he had intended. I had been to Taipei once before in 2009, and the lasting impression the metal metropolis had on me, was its effervescent bustle. The city was bursting at the seams with motion, people, chatter and streetfood. A pumping jive which was electrifying just to watch the stories unfold before my eyes.

I didn’t photograph much during that time, but the memory of the visit loomed in my memory. I had promised myself that if I return to the city, I would try my best to capture the streets on film. I revisited the city in February 2010, returning in the middle of its winter and saw the dawn of the new lunar year – the Tiger year. Winter meant three days and three nights of rain, but it did not stop me from losing myself in the side streets and the underbelly of the urban jungle and being a spectator of the side stories. I wanted to capture the city’s essence, it’s pumping jive, the crass clash of the new metal and glass buildings building on top of the old shop houses. The city’s neon lit night, the blissful locals breathing soul into the city and all this life happening all around.

Presenting my Taipei Street Stories. A digital paper movie, told from the streets of Taipei.

58 photographs.

Under construction, the new building on the old.

Street food seller opening for breakfast.

Three days of rain, all the umbrellas are out.

Fireworks. First day of work, in the new year of the Tiger.

On the way to the bank, Monday morning.

Breakfast time.

The owner of a Beef noodle soup gesturing while watching TV.

Selling coats on the walkway.

Women inside a street market.

Shoppers making their way into the street market.

Flogging clothes on a pedestal.

Clutching a shopping receipt. All receipts also double as a national lottery ticket.

Burberry scarf, lottery ticket seller.

The rain has stopped, but the umbrella now sheilds from UV rays.

Post, green is local; red is international.

A couple on a vespa on a date.

Fish by the sea.

Fishermen bbq sausages while fishing by the sea.

A couple on a date, one of their hang out spots.

Kids playing on the beach.

Sunday afternoon.

A street fiddler.

Watching Taipei.

Two men and a dog.

Enticed by the street food.

Enticed by the street toys.

Husband and wife.

A street artist with a customer.

Praying with posters.

Waiting for the bus.

Artist in transit on the MRT.

A cluster of vespas.

The cluster on the move.

Crossing the road.

Watermelon umbrella.

Husband and wife, much later.

Watching the city go by.

The year of the Tiger, shop window.

Day turns to night, ximending.

Collecting for charity.

Friends.

Kevin’s Tattoo.

Waiting for takeaway at Hi Sushi.

Visiting the bookstore.

Totally engrossed.

An angel promoting her store.

Red Lanterns outside of SOGO, department store.

Mother and daughter at night.

The city lights, after dark.

A couple speeding, probably  away on a date.

Inside seven eleven, shopping dog.

The house cat, cleaning.

Riding the MRT one last time.

Four types of city transport.

Bicycles, all chained and unused.

Old guys playing chess at the park.

Old guy falling asleep at the park.

Cleaning up, closing up.