cuba – Ming Thein | Photographer

Photoessay: Havana reflections

December 31, 2014 by Ming Thein

Imperial purple

A conceptually simple photoessay today, focusing on the difference between the real and virtual, hard and soft. Usually, the reflection of something is soft because it is indistinct and formed in a physical object that is clean, polished, crisp, and thus well-defined; however, in the case of Cuba, it’s the opposite. The physical objects are old, not always clean, have decaying or faded edges, and it’s the reflection that becomes more solid thanks to the hardness and intensity of the sun reflecting off them. The idea becomes more tangible than reality; it can be simply an interesting visual juxtaposition, or perhaps a metaphor for something politically stronger – especially in the case of Cuba. Beyond that, Havana itself becomes very visually interesting after a rain: the clouds don’t linger thanks to the sea breeze, and we land up with either a clear or Magritte sky and great texture in everything else. Enjoy! MT

This series was shot with a Nikon D800E, 70-200/4 VR, Zeiss Otus 1.4/55 and Ricoh GR.

Finally, for those who haven’t seen it: How To See Ep.5, Havana is here, free and in full. 🙂

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: cuba, havana, ming, mingthein.com, photoessay, photography, reflection, thein

Photoessay: A little Cuban architecture

December 2, 2014 by Ming Thein

La Fabrica.

Havana’s buildings are a mix of a bit of everything: colonial spanish, modern, neoclassical, Soviet brutalist concrete and a whole bunch of other things I can’t even begin to identify. All I know is that the visual contrasts are extreme, and the range of textures quite sublime – especially in that wonderfully strong and directional Caribbean light. How could I resist photographing the buildings – more than the cars?

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: architecture, building, cuba, design, havana, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photoessay, photography, thein

Photoessay: May Day in Havana

October 9, 2014 by Ming Thein

Against the crowd

And now for something a bit different, both from an experiential standpoint and a content one. As part of the Havana Masterclass, ~~I arranged a massive demonstration of communism to create a realistic photojournalistic scenario~~ we attended the 1st of May parade at Plaza de la Revolucion, Havana – perhaps the biggest socialist event in the entire Cuban calendar. Rather than being observers of the parade, as I’d expected, we got sucked into the enormous number of participants – I would say easily in the hundreds of thousands, covering the entire length and width of Plaza de la Revolucion and beyond. And as you are no doubt aware, the best images are made when you’re not just watching it, but actually in it.

Photoessay: People of Cuba, part II

August 14, 2014 by Ming Thein

Soldiers, I. Apparently you are not supposed to photograph them, or secure installations. When faced with this kind of challenge I invariably have to get an image…

Today’s photoessay is the continuation of the curated collection of people I photographed in Havana – (part I is here) the tricky part was to try to avoid cliches (unsuccessful, I think) but at the same time get a decent representation of activity. I think many of my students did this better – my Asian reserve prevented me from sticking my head into doorways and windows of homes (though that’s different if I’m on assignment) – but beyond that, I prefer to photograph people in a natural state without them being conscious of my presence and changing their behaviour to suit; whatever it was they were doing that was interesting in the first place would almost certainly cease and change.

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: cuba, havana, life, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, people, photoessay, photography, reportage, street photography, thein

Photoessay: People of Cuba, part I

August 6, 2014 by Ming Thein

One suitcase, many possible professions

Today’s photoessay is the first part of my report from the streets of Cuba. I tried to go in with as few preconceptions as possible, to just observe and shoot; there’s a little bit of movement away from the anonymity I’d been pursuing in my previous images. Perhaps it’s because the city itself is not anonymous or uniform or soulless or a cookie-cutter copy of every other first world city; the individuals mattered again – even when they were in groups.

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: cuba, havana, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photoessay, photography, street, street photography, thein

Photoessay: People and cars, Havana

July 21, 2014 by Ming Thein

1957

In the modern age, the car is a machine, a tool, something utilitarian. Features are added to meet regulations or to make you spend your money on something slightly better than what you had, or so Brand A can win a spec sheet comparison against Brand B. There’s very, very little soul; whatever little there is has to be engineered in. I don’t think this is the case with cars that are 50, 60, even 70+ years old; even if they had no soul to begin with, over the years they’ve certainly acquired patina, and with it, a history.

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: cars, cuba, havana, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, people, photoessay, thein

Photoessay: Havana cityscapes, part II

June 1, 2014 by Ming Thein

Sunset

Today’s photoessay is the second part and conclusion of the previous photoessay-review. It’s a little broader in scope and less human-scale than the previous one; this is deliberate as there’s definitely an element of the brutalist in Cuban architecture; my theory is that it’s the influence of socialism. You may find the majority of these images to feel toned; that’s mostly a consequence of atmospheric conditions: the best hours of the day to shoot proved to be early morning and late afternoon/ evening, both of which were extremely warm. In any case, I believe it fits the feel and mood of the city well: it’s just a lazy afternoon kind of place, even when it’s ten in the morning. I’m going to stop looking for excuses why I was lighting up a cigar at 9.30 now.

This series shot with a Nikon D800E and 70-200/4 VR. Enjoy!

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: cityscape, cuba, havana, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photoessay, photography, thein

Photoessay-review: the Nikon AFS 70-200/4 VR and Havana cityscapes, part I

May 30, 2014 by Ming Thein

This will be the first in my new review format for ‘light’ reviews – pieces of equipment that perhaps don’t necessarily need a full blown magnum opus, but benefit from some context in deployment and typical usage. A short piece on the D4 will follow next.

One of the few lenses in the Canon system I’ve long been jealous of is their 70-200/4 IS (in addition to the 17TSE). Until not so long ago, Nikon users have been missing a light/ compact high quality telephoto option. Sure, there’s been the 70-300/4.5-5.6 VR, but that was only a decent performer up to 200mm; anything else was emergency territory. And it simply wasn’t that good on the D800E, nor a pro build. Finally, we have the AF-S 70-200mm f4 G VR ED IF (what a mouthful). I’m going to address two questions in this review: firstly, is it any good, and secondly, f2.8* or f4? I suspect the latter question is going to be of interest to many still sitting on the fence.

*It’s important to note there are two versions of the 70-200/2.8 G VR. I’ll go into the differences in more detail later.

The Havana Masterclass report

May 22, 2014 by Ming Thein

I’m going to break from tradition a bit – rather than me show you a whole bunch of photographs of my students photographing, I think it would be better to let the results speak for themselves: instead, most of my students have graciously agreed to share a few of their images and thoughts from the recent Havana Masterclass. It should give you a fairly good idea of exactly what we do during a Masterclass…

Ultraprint Edition 2 sale: The Cars of Havana

May 20, 2014 by Ming Thein

Everybody loves cars, and especially old cars. And Havana – well, it’s full of them, in various states of repair; a veritable photographic paradise. The mixture of textures, colours, shapes and an elegance of an age past make for some very interesting images indeed. The selection of cars may appear random, but those participants who were with me on the Havana Masterclass will know that there was often quite a lot of waiting involved for just the right car to come along to complement the scene and mood.

Following the success of the previous run, it is therefore my pleasure to open the next limited edition Ultraprint run for orders: The Cars of Havana. Read on for details, and to buy.

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