Nha Trang

Farniente

Originally uploaded by Christian Lagat.

 

 

  

  

Christian’s been doing some very exciting work in Vietnam!  He uses a Ricoh GR digital camera that is compact and easy to travel with.  Christian captures the gentle pace of the country and beautiful compositions of the shores of Nha Trang,  a place that I was too young to visit when I lived in Vietnam.
Check out his collection of Vietnam.  This set is from Can Tho where I used to live.  I’ll have to ask him his reasons and perhaps conduct an interview. 

Duc:  So how do you find the opportunity to travel to Vietnam for Pictures

Christian:  Hi !  Thanks a lot again for your interest in my pictures !  I’ve been only one time in Vietnam. This year, in spring, for 3 weeks. It was a tourism travel with my wife and my 2 boys (15 & 13).
We really enjoined the trip…people, landscapes, food, everything was perfect !  We’ve been only in south and central Vietnam, and we would like go to north in the future.

I wanted to go there for years, because for my generation, specialy for people like me interesting in politic and history, Vietnam was the terrible background of our youth. When I was a kid in the 60’s, I was very impregnated by all the vietnamese city names I heard on the radio.
Another reason, is the fact that these recent years we travelled four times in india, and I knew that it will be very much “restful” to go in Vietnam for my kids and wife…;-)  Cam on.

Duc:  Hi Christian,  You are right about the names which have also impregnated my mind as well.  Especially, Nha Trang because my oldest sister went there to visit.  It was a very popular destination even back then.  I was too young to visit but saw photographs she brought back which was taken by a professional photographer.   At first, I thought you were a photojournalist working on a project on Vietnam. Your work is very impressive. Have you been photographing long?

Christian:  At first, I thought you were a photojournalist working on a project on Vietnam. Your work is very impressive. Have you been photographing long?

Duc:  What is your advice on travel photography? I like the India series. There have been serious documentary work done on India and Vietnam. Michael Ackerman and Mitch Epstein come to mind. Which photographers do you look at?

Christian:  In fact, now, I’m not vey interested by Photography with a big P.
I was a little bit when I was young, 30 years ago, when I read a lot of magazine and books (I remember to be very impressed by the work of Raymond Depardon and Don Mc Cullin) , but now, I’m just traveling, or walking in my own town, shooting and shooting !…;-)

Have a nice week-end.

Related Link:  Diligam’s set on Flickr of Pulau Bidong.

The Cat from Hue

Three Journals

Three Journals

Originally uploaded by Duc N. Ly.

And a Corona Four typewriter in the background.

Ricoh GXR

ricoh_gxr_wechselkamera

Originally uploaded by techfever.

Well, I think it’s a brilliant idea. The sensor should be coupled with the lens. It makes sense if it’s going to be digital. The sensor won’t get dirty this way. The black and White back is a nice idea. The leading companies like Leica, Canon, and Nikon have their legendary lenses that seem to hold back camera designs. The Leica M9 is a good example. Ricoh has some heritage in older equipements but is not held back by it. In the future when sensors improves, the body still works and if you want to shoot with older sensor for a retro look that’s cool too. It’s like going back to the film cameras of the 80s or 70s.

In fact this should have been the very first design of the digital camera because the sensor technology has improved increasingly. This would have save us some money and let us upgrade only the lens and sensor and allow us to get used to the body and it’s menus and buttons. It seem a little bit too late in the game because sensors are so superb now. Ideally, the new camera should have interchangable sensor separt from body and lens, like the medium format camera such as the Hasselblad. This is why it’s possible to shoot with a 50’s Hasselblad with the new digital back. It’s a good start to move away from film based camera of the SLR. But this move seems like it could harken back to the medium format cameras.

I would thought that the next progression is for an interchangable sensor.  It doesn’t seem far fetch.  It makes sense to have the body separated because the digital technology has maxed out at 3 inch for the display screen.  Any bigger would be bulky and 3 inches seems the right size to view images.

The digital view finder also flips to 90 degrees which is like the medium format style of shooting at waist level.

Journal Screw Binder

_VPS0023

Originally uploaded by Duc N. Ly.

I thought the binding on this journal is unique. The screws are removable. The color of this leather is rich.

Fax

fax

Originally uploaded by simper&smirk.

Are your faxings this hot? If not then you are doing something wrong.

Virgo & Pisces

Last weekend, I went to a benefit Happy Hour for Breast Friends.  It’s a local Portland group that helps women. 

Here’s the link: http://www.meetup.com/Portland-happy-hour-group/calendar/11245211/

Board Games

 Here’s my “screen shot” taken with a Fuji Finepix E900.  This picture shows my less then 10 year old nephew’s little Empire!  Settlers of  Catan can be played by all ages. 

Settlers of Catan first gained popularity in Europe then spread to North America and the world.  Thus a lot of similar game have been called Eurogames.  (Look it up on wikipedia for more information.)  These games can cost up to $50 USD.  They contain many pieces and designed to be visually stimulating.  They can be played by many people, 2-8.  There are groups that play on line or with the Xbox 360.  But playing it on a board is much more fun!   I joined a Meet Up Board game of Portland.  We met at the Lucky Lab on Thursday night to play games. Board games has made a resurgence. They are well designed with great graphics. Tannhauser is particularly impressive. I passed by one of the boards with miniture figures. It looks to be a WWI strategy game.

Another ‘Screen Shot’ of Agricola taken with Sony Ericson Camera Phone.  It is a Medival agricultural game.

Naked Binder Arrival

Just in time for back to school.  Ken sent me a few samples of their binders.

I love how simple the design is.  There not one drop of ink.  The board is branded like leather with an impression.  There’s not much glue either which means it’s less toxic.  One thing that happens with plastic cover binder is that they melt in the hot sun and release a plastic smell.  Also the plastic tend to get wrinkled. 

I like the architect version for long landscape orientation drawings.  When I was working at an architectural office we had 11 x 17 size drawings which we had to fold to fit the 8 x 11 three ring binders.  Not any more.  There is a line geared towards the architect or any one in need of this size and proportion.  The name comes from binders that are not wrapped in plastic or cloth or leather.  It is made of recycled material which I really like.  The covers look like the chip boards architects and designers use to make building models from.  It is also raw surface for kids to draw on and personalize.  I also like the design of wrapping to caress the three metal rings.  It can still received the labels and seems to be nicer on backpacks (without the sharp corners).

 

http://twitter.com/nakedbinder

Chelsea Gallery Second Life.

Postcard from Second Life.

Originally uploaded by Duc N. Ly.

I think showing in Second Life is a whole new experience because I can meet people and view the work together instead of just the one reception night on Real Life Galleries. I also like showing my friends work this way.

 

 

http://virtualhotelchelsea.blogspot.com/2009/08/art-by-any-other-name-is-still-art-aka.html