Brickfields - Little India on one street

[mobbes]

From my overloaded hdd again. I took a short walk in Brickfields last year and just snapped what I fancied:

#1 One of many multi-purpose stores
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120662-1.jpg
Idols of Hindu gods upstairs, general provisions downstairs, and prayer flowers outside - everything a Hindu needs ... almost

#2 Hindu flower stall
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120664-1.jpg
Flowers are very important for the devout Hindus. This is one of many flower stalls on Jln. Tun Sambanthan

#3 Bombay Point
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120666-1.jpg
At the Sri Kota end of Jln. Tun Sambanthan leading to Sentral, Bombay Point is a popular fashion retailer. It does not open early but closes very late.

#4 Sri Paandi
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120667-1.jpg
Purveyor of fine banana leaf cuisine, Sri Paandi is one of a few here that are frequented by the local Indians. It's been around for a very long time.

#5 Friendly Tamils
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120669-1.jpg
Friendly restaurant staff pose for me with their delicious vadai (savoury and spicy deep fried snacks). Most of these guys actually come from India.

#6 Sharing a Shoplot
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120670-1.jpg
A butcher and a general store splits a shoplot 60:40 in this short stretch of Jln. Tun Sambanthan. These devout Hindus are industrious and practical.

#7 Hardware Store and Landlord
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120671-1a.jpg
The ubiqitous Chinese hardware store. This one is sandwiched between two Seetharams, a chain of general stores and restaurants. Incidentally, Kim Her owns the modern building which also houses a bank.

#8 Another Restaurant
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120672-1.jpg
Though it calls itself a curry house, it also serves meals on banana leaves. Notice the enormous exhaust on the right? There's a lot of deep frying in Indian food

#9 An Emporium
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120675-1.jpg
Remember the famous Selangor Emporium of the 70s? They sell such a variety of things neatly packed onto displays. Anyone who works in one must have a darn good memory. See that lady? She just came out of the emporium and was trying to avoid me ,,,

...cont'd Part 2/2

[mobbes]

Part 2/2

#10 The Pet Shop End
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120676-1.jpg
This end of the road has some interesting shophouses. The upper floors of many units have verandas & are clearly meant for dwelling. However, many also house businesses

#11 Eye-catching Veranda
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120677-1.jpg
Talk about industrious! Hair saloon, travel agency, maid / employment agency and can you guess the fourth? All this above the 4D outlet

#12 Quick Tailor
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120678-1.jpg
This is the 4th biz there. Where in the world can you get a tailored outfit in 1 hour? Ok, ok, part of an outfit. A Choli, I think it's called. Wrap around a length of cloth called a saree and you have a full outfit! Wow - one hour! Proudly Malaysian!

#13 Sentral Condos
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120679-1.jpg
KL Sentral's high-end condominiums overlook Jln Tun Sambanthan's Little India from the North. What a contrast! Glitzy modern Sentral just a stone's throw away from down-to-earth but vibrant Little India.

#14 A Gentleman and A Bike
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120680-1.jpg
Got to talking with this gentleman. He's an Indian Muslim who works in (or perhaps owns) the paper shop on the right, and lives upstairs. "Cool bike," I said to him. "Oh no, not mine." Haha, you never know ... modesty?

#15 Happy Weavers
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120682-1.jpg
These 3 florists, or should I say flower weavers, really do enjoy their work. The guy in the middle's working on a bouquet of roses spiked with little white buds (jasmine?) Their clients will buy their handiwork for religious rituals and altar adornment.

#16 The Lingam
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120684-1.jpg
Did you know that this is a Lingam? That's waht he said to me. It's made of little flowers of various yellow and brown hues. I didn't ask but I think they're weaved and stuck onto a styrofoam base.
See the white uncovered squarish area? That's where the picture of the client's favorite Hindu god will go. It costs RM300 and lasts only 3 days! This one's waiting for some rich guy who ordered it. Cool, huh?

#17 The Shy Guy
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120685-1.jpg
After showing him the shots I took, he warmed up ... just a little bit. These guys and their dextrous hands do wonders with roses and buds.

#18 The Affable One
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120686-1.jpg
This chap had the friendliest smile. Unfortunately, language was a problem. Being from India, he only managed an itsy bit of Bahasa. "Santik," he said when I showed my shots. Huh? Oh, you mean "cantik" ... laughter all round.

#19 Sunday Best
http://calvinzworld.com/photos/gallery/brickfieldslilindia/images/P1120687-1.jpg
Back to the other end where I parked. A family dressed in traditional clothes wait as their friend opens the store. Are they customers? Or are they the owners? I was too shy to ask... maybe next time.

Thanks for looking :)

[raclette]

Wow, thanks for the walk :D ive felt like walking around that road with u as my local guide. I (we) need more of theeseee..... !

p/s: i wont bother talking to/asking strangers if i could take their pictures because of my shyness hehe :redface:

[alancheong7]

Good series of Brickfields' main road and adjoining shops :thumbs_up:

Love the elderly man and the bike fronting the shop front. Would look good in b/w. And trust me, he ain't the owner :D

Wonder if we have any old pix to compare then and now? :D

[ShaolinTiger]

Lovely set, very colourful and you've captured the mood well.

I really like #14 too, looks like a good place for a photowalk.

[mobbes]

Wow, thanks for the walk :D ive felt like walking around that road with u as my local guide. I (we) need more of theeseee..... !

p/s: i wont bother talking to/asking strangers if i could take their pictures because of my shyness hehe :redface:
Thanks raclette ... great to know you felt like you were there with me ... that's my holy grail :) About being shy, just remember that the person you want to approach is probably more bashful.

Good series of Brickfields' main road and adjoining shops :thumbs_up:

Love the elderly man and the bike fronting the shop front. Would look good in b/w. And trust me, he ain't the owner :D

Wonder if we have any old pix to compare then and now? :D
Thanks Alan, so you know the owner? I was just guessing :) About the bike scene, thanks for the suggestion. Not that I don't like b&W ... I do enjoy them ... but like I said in another thread, I am grateful to be blessed with color vision

Lovely set, very colourful and you've captured the mood well.

I really like #14 too, looks like a good place for a photowalk.
Thanks ST, let me know when you wanna do that :) Then again it's really safe there ... you might get better pics if you go alone rather than in a group :)

[Gojira]

Pics are quite good but what really stood out for me was your narration and the apparent interaction with some of your subjects. Not easy to walk alone with a camera and shoot street scenes. I can almost smell the frying ghee and curry leaves and cumin seeds....mmm...

IMHO, this is a good reminder that photography, particularly photojournalism and the like, is not just about cameras, lenses and light....it's also about interacting with the environment and subject. Some photographers' work will let the audience interpret their own level of interaction while others choose to use words as an aid....

I like words meself....am I making any sense here?

[noordin]

Such a rich area for photography. Lovely. :)

[JackJack]

u did a good job here, i think u communicate well with the stranger until they let u snap the pic of them:)


and....i miss street shooting a lot:boohoo:

[chuah406]

Great narration & photos. Keep it up! :thumbs_up:

[siew]

Keep it up. 14 is great but the wheel got chopped off. :(.

I like environmental portraits and so I bought Micheal Coyne's People Photography (Lonely Planety Series). Hopefully can practise some of his "methods". Will be good to do street photography in Brickfields one of these days.

Some of the "sifus" say 35 mm on a FF is the best focal lenght or about 21mm on cropped digicam for environmental portraits but there's no hard and fast rules. Cheers.

[ShaolinTiger]

Some of the "sifus" say 35 mm on a FF is the best focal lenght or about 21mm on cropped digicam for environmental portraits but there's no hard and fast rules. Cheers.

You know why they say this?

It's nothing to do with composition or anything technical, it's because it's so wide you have to interact with your subject in some way.

The photo cannot be detached because you are virtually sticking the camera in their face.

[mobbes]

IMHO, this is a good reminder that photography, particularly photojournalism and the like, is not just about cameras, lenses and light....it's also about interacting with the environment and subject. Some photographers' work will let the audience interpret their own level of interaction while others choose to use words as an aid....

I like words meself....am I making any sense here?
Yes, I think so. Ever so often, we go street shooting with too much baggage ... & I don't mean physical baggage... more of the mental type. For eg we worry so much about our tools & what settings to use, format etc etc. We're so weighed down by the hard technicalities we forget about the the soft skills. About the words, if you've read my rant at the talkfest over there, you'll know how I feel about words & pictures. I think the lyrics (http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/fullmonty/387/tributes/getaran_jiwa.htm) in P Ramlee's Getaran Jiwa (http://youtube.com/results?search_query=getaran+jiwa)about lagu & irama about sums up how I feel about words & pics :)

Such a rich area for photography. Lovely. :)
Thanks Noordin ... diamond in the rough ... right at the tip of our nose

u did a good job here, i think u communicate well with the stranger until they let u snap the pic of them:)

and....i miss street shooting a lot:boohoo:
Thanks Jack .... go go go ... just do it


Great narration & photos. Keep it up! :thumbs_up:
Thanks Chuah

Keep it up. 14 is great but the wheel got chopped off. :(.

I like environmental portraits and so I bought Micheal Coyne's People Photography (Lonely Planety Series). Hopefully can practise some of his "methods". Will be good to do street photography in Brickfields one of these days.

Some of the "sifus" say 35 mm on a FF is the best focal lenght or about 21mm on cropped digicam for environmental portraits but there's no hard and fast rules. Cheers.
Oh dear, thanks for the heads up Siew... need to develop more "sensitivity in the frame". I hope it did not unduly spoil your enjoyment of that image.
hahaha the sifus & the purists ... b&w, film, rf, etc etc To each his own. Me? I used my big-barreled FZ20 with 12x zoom. Just analysed the focal lengths ... by golly (35mm equivs) 36-40mm 10 shots, 40-50mm 2 shots, 50-60mm 4 shots, 61-100mm 1 shot & 170-175mm 2shots. hehe I'll go with my 17-50 on the noink next time :) Thanks for the heads up on Coyne's book

[derickuan]

Nice set, mobbes.....pics & narration. :rock:

[mobbes]

Nice set, mobbes.....pics & narration. :rock:

Thanks Derick, glad you like it :)

[ckchowov]

Good! Some of them really posing for u!