Publications that may be interested in my project

Chungking Mansions (these specifically or similar ones):

http://www.lensculture.com/
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/
http://www.newsfinder.org/
http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.AgencyHome_VPage&pid=2K7O3R1VX08V


Load Shedding:
http://seedmagazine.com/
http://www.newsfinder.org/

Chungking Mansion Websites

This one has a couple photos and gives advice about dining in the mansions:
http://gohongkong.about.com/od/whattoseeinhk/ss/Chunkingtour_3.htm


"Luckily, one place still exists that symbolizes this grit: the Chungking Mansions. This leprous rat-infested slum is an institution. It was raised to legendary status as the scene of shady drug deals in the movie Chungking Express. Anyone who spends time there walks off with a certain filthy stigma."

haha

http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/2007/03/21/chungking-mansions/


A good one with Gordon Mathews:
http://www.bcmagazine.net/hk.bcmagazine.issues/bcmagazine_webissue245/03-chungking.html

People's opinions about the Chungking Mansions:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/budget-travel/479060-chungking-mansions-hong-kong-ever-stayed-there.html

"20% of the mobile phones now in use in sub-Saharan Africa have passed through this high-rise souk"
http://www.time.com/time/travel/cityguide/article/0,31489,1850110_1850124_1852107,00.html

Nepal Article - Power outage problems

Many of the factories have closed down in the area surrounding Biratnagar. While the load shedding hours have reduced in Kathmandu, they remain there.

http://www.nepalnews.com/contents/2008/englishmonthly/businessage/sep/regional.php

Panorama Calculator

http://www.frankvanderpol.nl/fov_pan_calc.htm

Spherical Views

http://www.ptgui.com/features.html

This is the best stitching software for creating 360 deg. panorama views and spherical views. I used flashden.net to download a template. I managed to find one that enables swf files which means I can combine spherical views of a place with sound or whatever flash I want!

Flash Templates

Instead of writing everything else from scratch - use this:

http://flashden.net/

I may have to pay a couple dollars but that's faster than working on things hours and hours.

More Research

Documentary on the Chungking Mansions

http://www.asianfirstfilms.com/pdf/Docu_Chungking.pdf

Chungking Dream : New Movie coming out on the Chungking Mansions

NGO based inside the Chungking Mansions http://bit.ly/rPi6s

Nepal Visa Information

http://www.visitnepal.com/travelers_guide/legal_information.php

I can extend my tourist visa in Nepal for 50$ for 30 days (I will need a 30 day visa).

I'm back on Blogger!

Thank god I found a way to use this site again (Chinese government had it blocked). I'd rather not say what program I used in order to slow them down from finding it.

Anyways cool...that's that for now.

Good Nepal News Site

http://www.zimbio.com/company/about

This site has news/photos/blogs related to Nepal. It would be a good idea to get in touch with these guys about my project in Nepal.

Back to Load Shedding

As I get ready for candlelight and low light photos..maybe I should do a bit of research about the areas. Here is an area that might have better stories than Kathmandu:

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200603/16/eng20060316_251144.html

"The industries in Biratnager city, the largest industrial city of the country located some 400 km east of Kathmand, has been hit hard after the five-hour-long load shedding imposed by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) daily," Jivan Nepal, chairman of MBU, a non-government organization, said here in a press conference.

*Might want to tell the story from the perspectives of the workers there. A specific person trying to work for his family that's getting hit hard.

More from NGO forum/ water and sanitation project:
http://www.ngoforum.net/index.php?option=com_sbg_newsman&task=view&Itemid=3&id=99

Worldwide energy shortages:
http://www.energyshortage.org/taxonomy/term/22

Biratnagar (बिराटनगर), Nepal's second largest city, is more famous for giving more superior political leaders to the country than any other part of Nepal. It equally is known for being industry power-house of the counry. It is located in Koshi Zone on the southern Terai belt of Nepal, near the south-eastern border with India. The population of the municipality according to the 2001 census was 166,674. Biratnagar is located at 26°28'60"N 87°16'60"E. It is the administrative centre of Morang district.

Fortunate to boast immense fertile land mass, Biratnagar is also reputed for being agro-and -commerce hub. Being located on southern part, the city actually borders Indian town, called Jogbani, where lot of locals go for shopping, or to travel some other parts of India.

Biratnagar is linked with Kathmandu by road and air. Biratnagar Airport is the regional hub for vital air services serving the remote Eastern Hills, and there are regular flights to Kathmandu

Skate Rats

This has nothing to do with any of my projects, I just thought it was a great photo-story:

http://blueeyesmagazine.com/index.php?/essay/indiv/skate_rats/

Techniques for candlelight - #2

The first setup is the obvious one: fast of lens as possible: 50mm 1.4 and a tripod. I can then shoot at about 1/30 of a second.

Here is Number 2:

I've now created a flash to use with one of my zoomm lenses. Basically what I did:

1. Put flash on A setting
2. Put the flash on the lowest f stop and iso (which is 25) - - the flash will think that I'm shooting in really high lighting situations
3. Tape on some paper over the diffuser: I used pink papers that I had laying around but left the sides open to add a little reflective light in the room. The sides are still covered by the diffuser and one piece of paper while the top, face, and bottom are covered by approx 5 piece of pink paper.

This will add just a little bit of light to the subject but I have to custom white balance obviously:

1. Put it on Tungsten and then customize further
2. Blue all the way and green about halfway

With this setup I don't have to use my tripod and/or 50mm fixed lens. I will use both setups when I shoot though.

Candlelight Photography and other interesting sites

Basically everything is set up now and I'll start shooting today. Havn't been able to get to this blog today either since China has recently blocked blogger. I was able to get in using vtunnel.com.

My technique for this shooting assignment will be to try and get them at 400 iso and a slow enough shutter speed for the subjects to be in focus if they stand still. I'll be using a tripod for camera shake so I can probably get away with 1/30 of a second if I tell them to hold still. In the field I'll probably be able to replicate this quite easily. A couple useful tips but nothing I didn't already know:

http://www.dphotojournal.com/candlelight-photography-tips/

Also a good workflow:

http://thomashawk.com/2009/05/my-photography-workflow-2009.html

And a good site for photographers starting out:

http://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2009/05/rodrigo-cruz-the-promised-land/

Tentative Schedule

Currently I'm watching flash training videos...getting nowhere fast. Tomorrow my backdrop will be finished and I can start shooting in my house.

The purpose will be to use candle lights to work out all of the logistics for when I return to Nepal. I found a model yesterday during my late night debauchery. Who says you can't accomplish anything when drinking?

After I get the backdrop tomorrow (all black) and do some test shots I should be ready to go by Saturday night (depending on Anya).

Here is my idea [I have 2 large black backdrops that will go in front and behind the glass and model]

My intentions are to create a decent body of work while working out the logistics of shooting in similar situations in Nepal. I'm using black cloth to simulate the worse case scenario (no reflective light of anykind) and only 2 or three candles (most stores only had 2 or three candles). Here are some that I took in Nepal that I'm not really happy with.

I like the idea here but would have liked the woman on the right to be more in focus.

This one is obviously framed poorly on my part (spur of the moment...ya that's my excuse). Also not really useable because the guy in the background isn't in focus. I do like his hands out of focus however.

Note to self

I just thought of an idea off the top of my head while reading about multimedia. For the Chungking Mansions: I would like to map out the first and/or second floor using strong images where the user can interact with the environment. This would include moving around the floor and clicking people to hear quotes.

Joe's idea was to make it like Zelda and have it be an interactive game... although that sounds really funny considering this environment, it may be a little to far.

Another great Chungking Story...

I'm slowly becoming more and more interested in this project. There is a really good story here about the Chungking Mansions, calling it a "beacon and not a hellhole".

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/best_of_asia/article/0,28804,1614524_1614473_1614447,00.html

He mensions a professor that has been doing research on the place. Gordon Mathews, professor of anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Here is his webpage:

http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/ant/gordon/

He pretty much just stayed in the hostels 3 days a week (as I will be doing but for entire weeks) and studied the different cultures. It would be of my interesest to find this:

2008 “Chungking Mansions: A Center of ‘Low-End Globalization.’” Ethnology XLVI (2): 169-183.

Ok I think I'll keep posting stories in this post:
http://www.bcmagazine.net/hk.bcmagazine.issues/bcmagazine_webissue245/03-chungking.html

This is rich...

Wow - - apparently there is animosity between the Pakistanis and the Indians in the Chungking Mansion. Even fights break out. I found the story to this fight: they were beating each other with furniture and broken bottles and even tried to slash a police man when he finally had to show his weapon.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=36795&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19950803&sear_year=1995

Chungking Mansion Makeover

Apparently in 2004 the first two floors were bought by Benny Ki and he plans to give it a 50 million dollar makeup with a new mall and everything. Funny... didn't appear to be any different nor was there construction.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=13005&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=20041109&sear_year=2004

Chungking Express

Movie set in the Chungking mansions but the main plot has to do with a cop and a woman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chungking_Express

Still havn't watched the film...

Another series with references to the Chungking Mansions:

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/locked-up-abroad

National Geographic series having to do with smuggling gold into Nepal. I'm not sure about the references: they start in Hong Kong and run out of money..

Web Page

I'm currently trying different things to represent my most current work on my webpage. I found a photographer's webpage that I like very much:

http://www.stevenvigar.com/
I'm going to try and create a scrolling toolbar on my first page to display my current work. It's simple, nothing has to load except the image files themselves and it looks good. I found some webpages to help me write the html:

http://abrax.us/bbz/ScrollableBox.htm
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080911085148AAemRQ5

This page was very useful for looking up java script stuff:
http://www.dynamicdrive.com/

New Project Idea

Obviously this photo has some technical problems: I like the idea though: using black and white in a place like this. I will be using digital and converting to black and white. In this photo I used none other than the Lucky SHD 100. I've used this film many times and I have to say it's fun for weird effects (halos around whites) but not great for a main project. If I can find ILFORD or possibly Fuji Neopan I may decide to experiment with some black and white film. This will also make my photos stand out in this digital age.

A number of ideas for narratives have been going through my mind. The trick is finding a subject that hasn't already been done or creating something unique out of a classic story. I personally liked the work I did with Xinjiang migrants and also trash collectors here in Dalian and wanted to work more with them. Unfortunately these subjects have been covered time and time again... nothing was really coming to mind on how I could tell their stories.

I've since decided to drop these ideas and do something completely different. I'm going to take up the infamous Chungking Mansion in Hong Kong. In my story I would like to give a breif overview of the place and find a "normal" family living amongst the chaos and show their day to day life.

Where do I begin to start talking about the Chungking mansion? Basically most backpackers stay there or at the Mirador Mansion (which is similar in all respects) because it's the cheapest accomodation in town. What's interesting is there's also approximately 4,000 people living there from Nigeria, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other parts of asia. It's also estimated that about 120 nationalities pass through there yearly.

Anybody who has stayed there will most likely share an unpleasant experience as there are a lot of drug dealers, prostitutes, and people trying to rip you off. Apparently it's better than it used to be which is quite funny to me because the whole building seems like such a horrible fire hazard. A lot of the hostels don't have any windows and they're very narrow rooms with no quick exit.

People have died in the building - in 1988 a danish tourist was trapped inside and killed. There has also been a murder and is also the home to many illigal immigrants. In 1995 approximately 45 people were arrested for failing to have the proper visas/id.

This information came from the wikipedia site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chungking_Mansion

There's no wikipedia site and not a lot of information on the Mirador Mansion which is almost identical. This might want me to choose to create the story there. On the other hand, the Chungking Mansion might be more interesting since it's a little more widely known.

There has been a documentary based in the Chunking Mansion called: "The Chungking Express" by Wong Kar Wai. I havn't seen it yet but plan on viewing it soon. I will obviously want to build on this and not just redo what's already been done.

They also have their own website:

http://www.chungking-mansions.hk/

My next step will be to create facebook and flickr pages for the Chungking Mansion to exchange stories and photos and see what I can do differently and something that I feel should be uncovered.

The last thing I would like to mention is budget and access. Hong Kong is very easy to get to and I always stay in either the Chungking or Mirador Mansion because it's incredibly cheap and they have some of the only budget dining in Hong Kong. The best Indian/African dining. People constantly approach you when you're there and people come from all over to buy camera equipment nearby. They are used to cameras and don't have a problem with you asking them questions (most of the people there speak English). The most difficult part will be finding someone to let me inside their home (who's not a drugdealer or prostitute). I'm lookin for a "traditional" family: husband, wife, kids, preferably someone who recently immigrated there and are trying to improve their way of life.

Technique: I will focus on the 1st floor for the overview to show how much of a melting pot the place actually is. I've already taken both black and white and color photos there and will be sticking to black and white. I may want to have an interactive view of the ground floor such as a 360 degree panorama - - using Soundslides Pro. There are a ridiculous amount of restaurants and strange shops - - I think it would be incredibly interesting.

I've wanted to use the interactive technology for a while now and havn't had any reason to use it. I think since I'm doing a story on a PLACE this would be a good time. I will try to contact the owners or a spokesperson to see whether they would have a problem with me taking photos around the inside of the building - - I've never had a problem so far...

NGOs - Issue

There are a number of NGOs that work with created self powered communities by way of hydro electric: Alliance for Energy, INHURED International, the Arun Concerned Group, International Rivers Network, Intermediate Technology Development Group, and the Globe International

This one is helpful:

http://nepal-projects.com

Research - Issue

A photographer by the name Sailendra Kharel has a blog with many high quality photos on this subject:

http://pjsailendra.wordpress.com/

http://www.lightstalkers.org/sailendra_kharel

NGOs focusing on the power crisis in Nepal: http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishweekly/spotlight/2004/oct/oct08/coverstory.htm

Citizen Blogs on the Subject:

http://drdivas.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/sixteen-hour-load-shedding-in-nepal-how-the-hell-can-one-run-the-government/

http://www.daylife.com

Major Nepal Newspapers:
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com
http://www.nepalmountainnews.com/
http://www.kantipuronline.com/
http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/

Other:
http://www.myrepublica.com

Project Idea - Issue

Outline of Project: Even though only 40% of Nepal is connected to the electricity grid, the newly powered government are not meeting the demand in the urban areas. Electricity cuts are up to 14-16 hours day from around 6 hours a day last year. Kathmandu has recently put into use 700 battery powered rickshaws called Tempos which are now becoming obsolete. It’s becoming more and more popular to use diesel powered generators which is moving in the opposite direction to stop pollution. This problem also adds to the petrol shortage.

What will you achieve in the first 6 weeks: I want to get used to shooting under different circumstances of low light: more specifically, candlelight. I also need to overcome getting quality sound out of noisy areas as there are no quiet places in Kathmandu. Most importantly, I want to put something together on my computer that’s very similar to what I’ll be creating for my project in the field: something for a magazine or a multimedia piece (pictures with sound that the user has the option of listening to or not). I also need to research my subject as much as possible and find as much information as I can on the subject.

How will you progress the project in the last 10 weeks: As many high quality photos as I can: people using candlelight for various things, generator use, repairing power lines, the petrol problem, interviews from people (everyone is effected in Kathmandu).