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The title of my project will be “Hutong Alleys.” I want my viewers to experience the culture through these photos, with an emphasis on the one-of-a-kind lifestyle and traditions that originate from the Hutongs. One of my biggest goals in this trip is to tell a story through my images. I plan to use natural lighting to my advantage, finding areas and angles that emphasize both shadow contrast and the contrast between warm and cool colours.
I plan to document the unique blend of history, culture, and daily life in the Hutongs. My focus would be on the people who live there–civilians, workers, the elderly and the young. I will also document the local culture of the Hutongs, including their unique food, architecture, traditional clothing, and more. One of my main points of inspiration will be the works of Rammy Narula, a Thai photographer behind the Platform 10 album. Narula often uses bold, clashing colours to draw the eye to important details in busy scenes. Use of colour contrast like that will also bring light to my subject, achieving the goal of a clear focal point I want in my images. Narula’s photos are also intended to serve as an emotional escape, with a strong emphasis on the expressive intent in photography. I am also drawn to capturing and preserving raw emotion and telling the story behind the images.
When we arrive at the hutongs, I want to focus on fishing moment. For example, I could wait in front of a brick wall with my camera positioned to capture a figure wearing bright clothing as they pass by. Using this technique, I can set up a ‘scene’ for myself and more easily achieve the contrast that would make my subjects pop and add both energy and emotion to my photos. Another technique that I want to experiment with is getting close to the subject with my camera. I want to focus on close-ups to capture raw, unposed emotion. I could do this by capturing people in the middle of conversations or at street food vendors. I also want to work on capturing eye contact. The concept feels engaging to me, and it brings out more life in my images. One of the largest conveyers of emotion is through the eyes and the face. Having eye contact with the camera will more clearly capture the feeling of the image. For example, if a child makes eye contact with the camera while I am photographing them, the portrayal of emotion would be clearer.
Street photography is a unique form of photography that involves observing and capturing the world as it unfolds naturally, without staged scenes or posed subjects. It captures the authenticity of everyday life and the natural emotion that comes with living. It captures the extraordinary amongst the ordinary and heavily portrays the depth of emotion.
Gardin had a very unique way of going about his photography. He focused on street photography, capturing scenery mainly based on the interaction of everyday life. A stylish lady clad in pearly jewellery, or even a story of romantic heroines beneath an archway. His images are open-ended and always up for interpretation, wrapped in story and possibility.
Gardin was an Italian artist who lived from 1930 to August 2025, spending most of his years across Europe and taking photos. During the 20th century, artists and writers heavily influenced the intent of Italian photography. The forms of photography were primarily used for documentary purposes, to enhance newspapers or magazines. This shift occurred during the neorealist period and in post-World War II literary works. This was distinct from the 1950s and onward. Italian literature greatly amplified earlier patterns of fictional investigation, and photography entered more dynamically into reflections on abstract ideas such as subjectivity, memory, and language.
Gianni Berengo Gardin was heavily influenced by other photographers of his time. He mentioned that he was heavily influenced by the works of French photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Willy Ronis, Édouard Boubat and Robert Doisneau; others have identified the Italian group La Gondola and the American photographer W. Eugene Smith.
His photography inspires me greatly. The calm nature of the images, the story-like feel of the photos, is moving and impactful. Stolen glances between lovers, or the lonely silluete of a man gazing almost longingly at a statue––imaging something. The implied meaning behind the images greatly inspires me to create photos with a similar feeling.
The image depicts what is presumably a couple sharing a kiss beneath an archway. The image is taken head-on, yet it still holds depth and remains comprehensive. The composition resembles a one-point perspective. with the couple and the end of the archway acting as the vanishing point. The image was taken in 1959, while colored photos only became popular in the 1970s. Despite the lack of colour, the greys complement each other, and the strong contrast emphasizes the subject of the image. The image almost feels serene to look at, a silent environment only for the two of them. The background is an almost empty nature, but it only emphasizes the calming mood of the image. The image purposefully isolates the subject from the background, creating a clear and neat composition that draws the viewer’s attention to the subject.
The image portrays a strong idea. Elements complement each other perfectly, the couple in the image in harmony. Even if the placement is slightly off centre, it only adds to the authentic charm of the image. Gardin did a wonderful job at portraying his idea of the image, the story–even if there are no words.
Rammy Narula’s entrance into the world of photography was not a conventional one. In his early days, his initial approach to artistry stemmed from his desire to escape from his growing anxiety and tinnitus. Photography acted as a means to escape, to immerse himself in a different world away from the sinister possibility that the ringing in his ears stemmed from a much more malicious source. He spent his time in Bangkok, Thailand, where he produced one of his most famous works: Platform 10.
Naurla’s introduction into street photography was from his time spent in local photography workshops. At the time, Naurla was experimenting with other genres of photography when he came across the ‘personal works’ of some photographers he was studying. He was instantly drawn toward the creative and unlimited nature of street photography. He described the prospect as extermely appealing, stating he had no idea that “photography could be that convenient while still producing such meaningful work.”
He greatly represents my own vision due to the color. Color is a large part of what I look for in photos, and the vivid, almost dramatic feel the color pallete seen in Rammy’s images instantly caught my eye. The focus on people, in almost casual accounters of everyday life appeals toward my goal in street photography as well. Narula’s works are well-composed, thought out and detailed, appealing a good deal toward my creative intent.
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This quote doesn’t seem to make sense. It’s self-contradictory. It’s not realistic–a paradox at its core. But it reflects on what it means to create. The purpose of street photography is to be present in the moment. Being in the moment and focusing on present events is the core of street photography. An artist can be alone in the streets, focused on only a small bit of the bustling world around them. Together with the main characters of a million stories. The ability to focus on a single matter while being conscious of all that is going on around the artist. When considered correctly, it does make sense for street photography. The waiting, the seeming boredom that almost always gives way to excitement when the artist is no longer ‘alone,’ but ‘together’––the subject of the photograph.
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The date of publication of Platform 10 was in 2016, meaning that Naurla had begun working on his project since 2011. During both time periods, the world was heavily influenced by political aspects. In 2011, the peak of the Arab Spring called for images to become dramatic and solemn in nature, similar to the lighting in Naurla’s images. Many photographers of this time dove into the concept of the Arab Springs, even with the New York Times’s post 2011: The Year in Pictures, which consisted predominantly of images of the Arab Spring. Towards the completion of Naurla’s album in 2016, Grammy-winning musical Hamilton was released to the public for the very first time. Photographs took on a more movie-like feel, with dramatic colouring and hard lighting. Among that, Donald Trump was elected for his first term in office in the same year. Images of the time were also heavily influenced by the political change, and many photographers began to shift their focus to the new president. Some commemorated the older generation with widespread photos of Obama gaining popularity.
This photo comes from one of Narula’s most famous works, Platform 10. It was an album created over the span of five years, a period during which Narula would visit Platform 10 in Bangkok to photograph for twenty minutes daily. His photos are meant to be an emotional escape, driving heavily into the expressive intent in photography. My interest had always been drawn toward photographing humans and telling a story behind the images. Photos similar to those created by Narula had always been a large inspiration toward my style of photography, which quickly built on the colour language that I am aiming for. My idea of lighting, of which I try to aim for harder, sharper light in contrast to softer light sources, was quickly solidified from what I learned from Narula’s experience.
The theme and the composition of the image is primarily calm, in contrast to some other images in his album. The image was taken head-on, with Naurla most likely standing directly behind the woman and the child to achieve the angle. The viewer’s eye is instantly drawn toward the subject of the image due to the smoke surrounding the subject, highlighting it against the darker background.
In the image, a woman holding her child is presumably awaiting the train to come at Bangkok’s famous train station Hua Lamphong. Although the expressions of the subjects in the photo are not visible, the photo composition and colours convey the hidden emotion. The image is depicted in full colour, emphasizing the cool colours contrasting with the warmer tones. This seems to be a similarity between all his photos in his Platform 10 album. For example, the image depicted below:
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