This is an extract from Jamie’s photography blog. More details below.
If you’ve been following our blog you’ll know that I had to return to the UK for a period, while Liz had to fly to KL to renew her visa. Upon our return, we decided to meet up in Jakarta, one of our favourite cities. This will be featured in next Sunday’s episode, which comes out today for our supporters. Of course, the main reason why I love it is that it offers so many photographic opportunities!
This being SE Asia, the majority of activity is during the night hours. It’s so hot in the day that only necessary trips are made. It’s one reason why shopping malls are so popular over here. And while Jakarta is a sprawling industrial city, it’s also steeped in cultural history. What’s more, there are many pedestrianised areas, making getting around on foot easy.
The largest spot for tourism centres around Fatahillah Square in the north of the city. It’s an area referred to as ‘old Batavia’, and where the Dutch settled back when they were pillaging Asia. Many of the old colonial buildings still stand today.
Like any city, however, you don’t have to walk far to the backstreets to find scenes a little more local. Canteens and market traders stay open well into the night.
Street and travel photography around Asia is both exciting and comfortable, at least from a ‘photographing subjects’ point of view. It’s hot and sweaty, so regular stops to rehydrate are important, but people, on the whole, couldn’t care less about a tourist with a camera. Talking of which…
Camera Gear
When venturing out into the streets I like to travel light. All I am using is my Sony A7C and a relatively old 35mm 2.8 Zeiss lens. It’s a pretty compact set-up, which makes swinging through the crowds unnoticed relatively easy.
These are just a few of the photographs I took on one night’s session. It’s an extract from a two-part feature I ran on my photography blog. If you are interested in seeing more, please head over to my website and sign up for notifications. I don’t post frequently, but when I do, they’re always worth checking out as they feature various photography projects taken with different cameras.
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