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:
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:
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...
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