Irwin Loy

“Views Of The Hong Kong Sky, Framed By A Canopy Of Skyscrapers”

Stillness and Motion

in Southeast Asia

I was late, dare I say resistant, to the whole Facebook thing. As I have come to embrace my tendency towards voyeurism, learned to navigate through the mundane ramblings and cat memes, I have found that there can be true value in many of the connections I have made. One of those connections is a former college friend and fellow filmmaker, Todd.

Todd currently lives in Phnom Pen Cambodia where he runs The Asia Media Lab producing powerful and compelling videos for international and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Southeast Asian region. Todd also happens to be an acclaimed photographer and in his spare time uses his ex-patriot backdrop to create some phenomenal imagery. He recently posted, to Facebook, a series of long exposures taken in Myanmar and Thailand that are nothing short of stunning. I could wax poetic about the juxtaposition of stillness and motion, but I will let the images speak for themselves.

Here is a little insight into the concept behind the series and his process:

“For me, one of the most exciting things about living in this part of the world is the life on the streets, there is so much action and movement. Thus, when I decided to do a photography series I wanted to employ a technique that captured the pace of the city. Most of these images are form Yangon, Myanmar, one is from Bangkok. In order to capture the movement, I put the camera on a tripod, when necessary, I used a neutral density filter to stop the light down enough to open the shutter for periods long enough to show movement. I found that by switching between .3 of a second and 2 seconds, I was both able to capture the blur I desired but also keep open the possibility to catch a person standing still allowing them to be sharp and in focus in the photo.”

Todd is shooting with a Canon 5D Mark II, and most of the shots where with a 24-105 f4 or a 35mm f2.