Sarah Wong: Task #1

I was influenced by Thomas Struth’s attempt at objectivity while photographing street scenes.  I chose to focus on Chinatown due to the common connotations of it as being a sinful, dirty and unpleasant place.  An assumption which is present in Hollywood films and persists.  Like Struth, his street scenes were not particularly beautiful or striking, but to me their strength was in the concept.  To me, his concern was on engaging the viewer into questioning what the photographer thought, was implying or studying.  I did not adopt the central position he took of his early street photos, in preference of his later technique.  He realized that he could “see analytically without needing a single overarching structure of compositional device”.  I too, tried to capture the character or “sound” of the place at morning dusk.  I wanted to show Chinatown not in the typical hustle bustle which people are accustomed to seeing it, but when the streets were quiet.  For me, the streets and the people are just like any other.  By chance, I find the rain can perhaps wash away the dirt people are accustomed to feeling the streets are covered in, and seeing it for what it really is.  

I have two version of this photo- in colour and black and white.  Please let me know which one is more effective.  Suggestions and comments are appreciated. Thanks!