abstract – Ming Thein

Photoessay: Reflections on Singapore

August 22, 2014 by Ming Thein

Central

I was in Singapore a few months ago both on assignment and for a private workshop; one of the things I’ve always enjoyed photographing is abstraction in reflection: there is no simpler decomposition of the image to shape, texture and colour than this. Fortunately, the weather was obliging on one of the days, and there’s plenty of such opportunities in Singapore. Despite what you might think, I shot quite a lot more than just the usual buildings in buildings…in fact, you’ll notice the second half of the set is quite a bit more whimsical and less brutalist/formalist.

Photoessay: Architectural juxtapositions

April 22, 2014 by Ming Thein

I’m pretty sure none of the architects or designers involved with this project could have envisioned the sightlines I used for these images, or if they did, it’s almost uncertain that they would have been able to forsee the changes in the environment surrounding the buildings. Some believe that photography is no more than a derivative work of somebody else’s primary creation; I of course disagree – and that will be the subject of a future article.

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: abstract, architecture, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photoessay, photography, prague, ricoh gr, thein

FD Photoessay: Urban abstracts in monochrome

February 21, 2014 by Ming Thein

It’s been a little while since I posted any images from Kuala Lumpur; the truth is that I don’t actually shoot that much in my home city these days. Partially it’s because I feel I’ve really plumbed the depths of most parts of the city; partially it’s because I try to keep some potential in reserve for when I have to go out and review a camera – finding new material in a city in which you’ve shot close to 200,000 frames is actually quite tough.

POTD: Construction site cubism, and a minor site organization change

May 29, 2012 by Ming Thein

Construction site cubism. Olympus OM-D, 45/1.8

I’ve also archived the most interesting posts for each category under their respective headers, so it should be much easier to find older articles/ posts in future. Let me know if it works or doesn’t work for you. MT

Filed Under: POTD Tagged With: abstract, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photo, potd, thein

POTD: Lanterns

April 30, 2012 by Ming Thein

Lanterns. Nikon D2H, 80-200/2.8 N

Last day teaching in Singapore. Returning home tonight to about 30GB of files…MT

Filed Under: POTD Tagged With: abstract, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, nikon, photo, potd, thein

POTD: Nucleation

April 27, 2012 by Ming Thein

Everything needs a catalyst. Olympus E-PM1 Pen Mini, Panasonic 20/1.7 G.

In case you’re wondering what it is you’re looking at, it’s boiling water at moderately high magnification, frozen by off-camera flash. High enough that my knuckles were gently steaming after about ten seconds or so. Experimentation is the source of all art…but yes, you can go too far. I’m pretty sure I got a sizable blister on one of my fingers after this. MT

Filed Under: POTD Tagged With: abstract, micro 4/3, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, olympus, pen mini, photo, potd, thein

POTD: Abstract stairs

April 6, 2012 by Ming Thein

KLCC Convention Center. Fuji FinePix F10

One from the archives – 2005, to be precise.

I’m in the middle of retouching a huge batch of product images for a client – 36MP also means 3x more retouching time, unfortunately – so today will be pretty quiet. I’m still planning to get the reader critiques up later today (thank you to all of you who submitted – there are far more than I expected, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to do everybody). MT

Filed Under: POTD Tagged With: abstract, architecture, fuji f10, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photography, potd, thein

POTD: Diagonal

February 29, 2012 by Ming Thein

Sometimes, you find something striking at breakfast. Leica M9-P, Zeiss ZM2.8/28 Biogon

Filed Under: Leica, POTD Tagged With: abstract, architecture, building, interior, leica, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photography, potd, thein

POTD: Bridge shadows

February 26, 2012 by Ming Thein

Bridge shadows, Prague. Leica V-Lux 30

A photograph doesn’t always have to have a point; sometimes the visual interplay of light, shadow, texture and pattern is enough. I shot this with a compact super zoom – the Leica V-Lux 30 (Panasonic TZ20) because my M9-P would not have been able to get the right perspective with ‘only’ a 50mm as my longest lens (this shot required about 105mm or thereabouts). MT