Certainly it had been a cracker of a weekend for my 7D. Yesterday with the boys’ concert and today - Sunday - the scouting for the upcoming photowalk and then the trip over to the Curve to meet up with my fellow KLickers at the Laundry Bar. A couple of the KLickers were invited to talk about environmental photography as a theme for n event organised by Aesthetics online magazine and the Malaysian Nature Society.
We also had six of the photographers exhibiting their work at the venue. This was followed by a talk by Prakash Daniel, a fellow KLickr. He talked mainly about the effect of nature to our surrounding urban environment, and the pictures he exhibited were simply amazing. Unfortunately this was let down by the AV equipment they had at the venue. It was out of focus and just simply cannot cope with the contrast of the photographs being projected. This was made worst by the fact that the second speaker - Jaavad, the original Prince of Persia - he was from Iraq - had most of his photos in black and white.
Jaav talked about his recent trip to Sri Lanka and how the interaction between the people and environment were a lot more direct there compared to here in Malaysia. He noted that since there were no refrigerators, food were cooked fresh and produce were bought and consumed on the same day. He also pointed out that since the country was in the process of rebuilding themselves after the bloody civil war, they were very happy to have tourists and photographers going around taking photographs of their country and the people. They were very willing to pose, and then will thank the photographer. For them, it was an opportunity to make the beauty of their country known to the whole world. I don’t think you can have any of that here! Look at Pavilion for a start. The moment they see a group of photographers lurking around, the security - who were mostly foreigners - will usher them away! Confusing wasn’t it?
After the talk, the photographers who had their work on display had the opportunity to introduce the photos and ask for critique. We also introduced our group, KLickrs and our upcoming activities - to include the 1000 portraits of Kuala Lumpur for the upcoming Urbanscapes. Unfortunately I will be giving a lecture in Lumut that very day! We also had representatives both from Aesthetics and Nature Society making their appearances as well.
The talk adjourned by half past 5 and the KLickrs then headed for ‘Waroeng Penyet’ for a quick tea and further chat. I also had the chance to get some take about the upcoming photowalk I was trying to organise. I had to leave early after some drinks as it was already getting late.
Slideshow for the event can be seen here. More info on KLickrs here.