The KLPF 2017
*The event was held in November 2017*
It was in Pudu last year. And this year the venue changed again, to Publika near Hartamas. I managed to get there on the final day and from what I could see, it was near the end. Some of the exhibitors had started packing up.
On the whole, the setup was a strange one. They had a stage by the Publika entrance and the organiser utilised both White and Black Box as well as the corridors in between. Certainly it wasn't purpose-built. The stalls were peppered around the spaces while certain corners were turned into lecture rooms. Not ideal with the light and sound pollution. It was tricky to listen to talks at times.
But I was very impressed by the quality of work on display. The printing were mostly excellent and the organiser really put the effort on getting plenty of photographs for exhibition. You could see photos on display everywhere from the walls in the hall as well as at the annexes outside.
I only spent an hour there and I was surprised that Alice Smith having their photography club present at one of the booths. I spent some time chatting with one of the teachers as well as an old boy who was now pursuing a degree in Photography in Hong Kong.
Not as big as the ones when it was hosted in Mid Valley. Back then, you could find all sorts of things to try. I remembered having a go at the Ricoh GR for the first time there. I was hoping to be able to hold the GF50s. Unfortunately none was available although I could see plenty of Fuji products at the exhibition. Maybe sponsorship these days were limited.
If you were exploring around for a gear, don't think that the KLPF is the spot. If the organiser was clearer on their objective and vision, I think the festival can really move further ahead. Hopefully they remain at the same spot next year ...
Stop at MATIC
“Interpretasi Hitam Putih Jalanan”. That was the title. Enough to intrigue me and on the sunny Saturday afternoon, I decided to go and have a look.
It was a local exhibition on street photography, all in glorious black and white featuring local photographers with a number of international contributors. Well curated and well presented. The venue as MATIC, in a purpose-built room ideal with such exhibition with plenty of natural lights and cool ambiance.
I found some of the featured photos intriguing and at the same time familiar. There were plenty of KL flavours in them and some of the landmarks were easily recognisable. Certainly the theme being black and white, made the photos contrasty and gripping. I always preferred narration and again I struggled to grasp the overall direction of the exhibit. But that does not mean that I did not enjoy what was on show.
I wished that the exhibition was better publicised. I only learned of it from Facebook. There was no dedicated website, and the mention on the MATIC webpage was only nominal. The exhibit will go on until until the end on the month - 30 March 2017 - and it was certainly worth a visit.
Parking was an issue if you were driving. I got duped into paying RM10 as I was told that I was suing a private parking. To encourage local visitors, they could have made the parking cheaper at least. Usually I would’ve parked at KLCC and walked, but with Anita coming along, it was too much of an ask for her to walk across. Again, local authorities conspired to make those who wanted to explore KL that much more challenging ...