Studio Based Portrait to Street Portrait Photography

From Studio based portrait to street portrait photography. This was a natural progression considering I no longer have a photography studio base to work from.

This is due to leaving my homeland of New Zealand in March 2011 to live in Phuket – Thailand. In 2015 I relocated to Malaysia spending one year exploring Penang, and I’m now a resident of Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur Photographers

Kuala Lumpur has a very active community of enthusiastic street photographers devoted to their craft. They get together for photo walks, organize regular gallery exhibitions, and manage several popular online forums for sharing their photography. Which is ideal for inspiration and is a valuable support structure for the members.

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Street photography in Kuala Lumpur is Hot Work

One of my favourite street photography breakouts from the heat and chaos of Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur is Coffee Amo. The cafe is not on street level (and perhaps a little difficult to find) if you’re not a regular.

It is well signposted once you’ve reached the address. You climb a small flight of dimly lit creaky stairs, the coffee aroma and the fun illustrations greet you at the top of the stairway and entice you to enter the cafe.

Coffee Amo
Coffee Amo signage directing you to a very good coffee 🙂

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Street Photography Ethics

Street Portrait Photography is my passion.

I love stepping out with my camera, wondering who I might meet on my travels, and what photos I’ll make along the way.

My vocation is portrait photography, and the street provides so many interesting subjects.

The opportunity to learn about people, a snippet of their lives is what motivates me to keep stepping out.

When the portraits are downloaded, it’s another opportunity for me to gaze upon the subject, recall our conversation and imagine more …

This is a short list of what is important to me in my craft of Street Portrait Photography.

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Street Photography the Risks of Chasing Art

Street photography is not without its challenges. This is the first post in a series I’m writing about my experiences on the street with accompanying photos.

Personal safety is a biggie for me, and sometimes I put myself at risk by being too in the frame and not being aware of my surroundings. Plus, I don’t have eye’s in the back of my head, and prefer to travel alone – basically, because a companion would be very bored hanging with me and there’s no fun in that and I would feel bad. Which in turn would disrupt my focus.

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Sri Maha Mariamman Temple Abhishekam Ritual

During a tour of the streets of Pasar Seni on a street photography mission by chance, rather than good planning I arrived at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple. One of Kuala Lumpur’s most popular temples.

As the temple is a  holy place, I removed my footwear and asked permission to take photographs inside the Temple, which was granted.

I sat for a moment in the prayer hall to clear my mind, and take in my surroundings.

I was pleased to have arrived in time for the Abhishekam – a Hindu ritual of bathing the deity. According to my google search an Abhishekam of milk removes all sins, and coconut water increases the overall wellness of the family.

The primary deity of the Temple is Sri Mariamman or the Divine Mother – she provides protection for her worshippers from evil spirits.

Sri Mahamanriamman Temple - Chinatown - Kuala Lumpur
Sri Mahamariamman deity

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Ampang Park Skateboarders

I’d noticed a regular gathering of skaterboarders at the Ampang Park LRT Station Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia and often had my arms filled and no camera.

This evening I made a special trip with my camera in the hope that the skateboarders would be out and about.

I chose the 24-70mm lens for speed and flexibility, and decided to use only the available natural light.

As luck would have it, three skateboarders rolled out from the LRT Station, and the late afternoon light was nice and bright.

I introduced myself to the skaterboarders and asked if I could hangout and take photos of them.

They agreed, these are the photos I took of the ‘Ampang Park Street Gang – APSG’.

Thanks Tommy, Eric and Aiman.

Happy skating.

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