join me for a limited series ‘asia on 35mm film’ starting with a brief stop in bangkok with my leica mp.
During the summer I was lucky enough to have an extensive south east Asia worktrip covering Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Of course I could not resist bringing along my camera and opted for my Leica MP with copious amounts of film. As with all work trips, I did not have a huge amount of free time so a lot of these are taken “on the road” and are city or countryside views - although I do think there are some nice shots that capture the essence of this fascinating part of the world. Most importantly, it allowed me to slow down and take in the sights a bit more than I would have without a film camera.
That’s a lot of film!
I managed to bag some Kodak 800 film (taken from a single use camera), which I saved for some night shots in this series. I picked up a Domke xray bag and was very happy with it. The internet is full of people complaining about airport scanners, but I found that this Domke bag worked quite well (for the most part) considering I went through 10+ scanners during this trip. Of course the CT scanners are out of the question, but I have never had any issues with airport staff then putting the film rolls through an older scanner on the side. That being said, some of the Ilford Phoenix 200 shots were absolutely obliterated by something, but in a way it makes the shots even more interesting - those will be in a future post soon!
All you have to do is wait about ten seconds at a traffic light and suddenly you see what feels like hundreds of mopeds.
The walkways over the main roads are really cool and very good vantage points for photographs.
I liked that the word Bangkok is in the image, although I think this shot would have worked better in black & white as I was intrigued by the shapes not the colours.
I still find it funny all the tuk tuks in between the regular traffic - makes for a great photo at least!
This is one of my favourite shots of the whole trip.
Seems very futuresque.
Waterway near Lumphini park.
One of the many walkways in the wonderful Lumphini park. I was lucky enough to go for an early morning run around this park, just wonderful (even if over 30 degrees at 5am!).
I liked the strong shadow in this shot.
Busy streetscapes.
I like watching street scenes like this from a distance and then taking a shot to freeze the moment, there’s always a lot going on in these bustling cities.
I love how busy this shot is.
One of the many side street views, I like the difference in shadows vs highlight areas in this composition.
My colleague and partner in crime, Semi.
Bangkok airport is surprisingly luxurious.
I mean look at that light!
overall observations
I really only had a few hours to go for a quick photo walk and fight off the jetlag, so these are the best shots I could take. However, looking back on them now after a few months they bring back some nice memories, and that’s what it’s all about!
More Asia trip on 35mm film posts coming up - stay tuned!
Thanks for stopping by,
Neil
