Kodak Funsaver

Back in 2013 we headed to Thailand to visit an old friend and get some vay-cay time in.  Armed with a DSLR, a super-8 camera, an iPhone, and three disposable cameras, I'd say we covered most of our bases.  One of those Kodak Funsaver GT-800 never got used and made its way to Iceland three years later.  Without any control of the focus and the on-camera flash I shot the whole roll with abandon over the course of two trigger happy days in Ólafsfjordur and Reykjavik. Conversely to the previous post all shot on a Canon 7D with it's greeny-blue hues, the Kodak is very, very warm and a little pink-y giving the roll serious vintage vibes.

 click! Hallgrímskirkja church

 click! Harpa concert hall

 click! Reykjavik bar scribbles and stickers.  Everyone in this bar was stunning. Is that normal?

yup and I walked around the Blue Lagoon with a disposable camera above the surface of the water

Ólafsfjörður, IS

Lo' and behold the lovely and remote town of Ólafsjörður, Iceland.  Nestled in the mouth of a fjord on the Tröllaskagi (troll!) peninsula, this fishing town was once only connected via a road around the mountain from the 1940s until a (scary) one-lane tunnel trough the mountains was built to Dalvík. A tunnel connecting the town westward to Siglufjörður was built recently in 2010. 

I'll be here for the next month staying at the Listhús artist residency hoping to bang out some inspired collages, hike over the mountains, discover magical lakes and stare dumb-faced at the most beautiful elfin Icelandic girl at the cash of the grocery store.

In the meantime, I leave you with a snippet of the stunning views, some plant life and the fluffiest sheep that ever crossed my path. 

Japan photo diary

Shall we start with this image of cherry blossoms *almost* in bloom? We were a couple of weeks early for the grand floral explosions, but had enough of an inkling of what was to come.  Of course that did not deter us nor the tons of other tourists from flocking to Kyoto, known for temples, palaces, shrines, kaiseki and lesser known Kyoto style sushi. We rented some bikes for a couple of days and discovered the city with frozen toes (we are flashing back to early March here).

Tom on above-mentioned rental bicycle.  At the rental shop, the owner set us up with a "manual GPS" by clipping a map onto the basket.  Awesome.  We managed to get lost anyways.

1. At the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine

2. Shrine signage with a construction worker apologizing that there is work taking place

3. These two visitors with their masks, with a hint of the amount of tourists at the frame edges

A visitor making a prayer or offering with tons of Ema behind her. The ema are wooden plaques sold to those wanting to communicate to the gods their hand-written wishes, generally for health, wealth, happiness and good marks on an exam.

Or sometimes visitors wish for Saint Laurent, Air France Premiere seats or jewels from Van Cleef & Arpels.

Some of the thousands of Torii gates at the Fushimi Inari Shrine.

The bamboo groves at Arashiyama

Spooky deer and friendly deer in Nara

So we got ourselves onto a bullet train or a Shinkansen from Kyoto to Tokyo with a glimpse of Mount Fuji while drinking bottled water from Mount Fuji.  It was all very meta.  Speaking of meta I am typing this post while on a regular 5hr train ride from Montreal to Toronto.  The distance from Kyoto to Tokyo is almost equivalent and via those bad assed trains took about 2.5hr.  #bringhighspeedrailtoCanada #please #thankyou

1. Bright light and shadow in Ginza, Tokyo

2. Shoes almost in a line at Dover Street Market Ginza

3. A giant fallen rose by Andy Hillman for Visvim

HK photo diary

Hellooooooo Hong Kong! (Which I really enjoy calling HK.)

We took a quick jaunt to visit friends who have relocated on this unique island. HK, the home to millions, was full of wallet busting meals, bustling crowds, history and lots of dichotomy.  But what I couldn't get enough of was the density of the city. Sure New York is dense, Tokyo is dense, but for some reason I really felt the presence of the population represented not just by the crowds but also in the densely packed housing.  Infinitely photogenic, I couldn't get enough of it and marvelled at all the laundry precariously hanging outside of windows over a busy city below.

I was quite concerned for laundry everywhere I looked.

Meandering some of the little streets and alleyways of Sheung Wan.  As we wound our way we found stairways, graffiti and a hidden barbershop.

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Okay, what about that dichotomy I was talking about?  Financial disparity of the population aside, a really awesome duality of HK is its urbanism and easy access to the outdoors.  While the Off-White store in Causeway Bay displayed some lovely greenery, HK spoiled us with tons of hikes, beaches, islands and other assorted outdoorsy-ness all while being nestled in a busy city.

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Above:

1. walking up to Victoria Peak, viewing the city below

2. Lamma Island in the distance

3. the winding paths of Wilson Trail

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Above:

1. making soup dumplings!

2. mall crowd

3. little HK and Chinese flags stretched over Kowloon streets. 

Last look: hitting up a trail in the New Territories with a view of mainland China yonder