I survived Hong Kong..... barely.

Leaving my film cameras at home, I started getting the shakes when I board the Cathay Pacific flight. Did something incredibly stupid too at the boarding gate..... I instinctively took out my memory cards and asked for them to be hand inspected.

'...errr...but sir....these are.....memory cards?' hinting to me, the airport security was trying not to sound sacarstic.

I felt naked without my film camera(s) sitting snugly next to me on the planef...... I mean, I've NEVER flown without silver halide before.

Weather in HK was nice and comfortable at 27 degrees C during lunch time and a fine 24 degrees C in the evenings.

It was just as well I'd lugged along the Canon G5 for 5 days. People shooting in HK has never been easy. The flip out LCD monitor helped heaps as I managed to get quietly up close and personal with total strangers in the subway, at traffic crossings, in restraunts, bars and shops.

I think it'll just be a matter of time before common folks wise up to the fact that digital shooting can be done without an eye to the viewfinder and that their pictures are being taken at waist level or with the camera held in a non-traditional manner while shooting.

The women (my wife, mother-in-law, sisters-in-laws) were in their element shopping on the fly. A good 2 hours was spent browsing through EVERY single item in the 3 storey ESPRITE botique. I went through the men's section in 10 minutes and spent the rest of the time loitering around raising the suspicions of the salesgirls that I might be some potential shoplifter checking out the different corners of their store.

Of course I went camera equiptment shopping...... all 20 minutes out of the 7500 minutes (5 days) I was in Hong Kong But I didnt buy anything. I only had time to salivate and droll before the women were 'THIS IS BORING!!!!! CAN WE GO ??????!!!!'

Where is JUSTICE? I'm frigging bored out of my mind all day while they hit every botique know to Man and I'm supposed to UNDERSTAND? And when I step into a half decent camera shop..... the girls all want to leave before I even get to know the nice camera salesman's name.

I'll leave them home the next time I board a flight to HK.

The last time I was in Hong Kong was in early 2002....I thought stuff and eating was already cheap then..... it seems to have gotten even cheaper now. A dinner in a fancy chinese restraunt.... in Time Square at Causeway Bay no less.... cost barely HK$700..... unthinkable before 2000

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So barely a week back home, I was already planning a return to Hong Kong to really enjoy myself in early December.... without the female entourage.

I was planning all sorts of decadent activities when I received a call from Lance to join him in Goa and Bombay for the Oracle gathering of curators and photo administrators at about the same period. I declined as I feel that I'm more a photographer than an administrator and organizer....and the thought of flying half way round Asia to sit for 5 days in ANY KIND of conference didnt really appeal to me.

However..... his mention of India sparked a stock-take of my personal photography over the last few months. I had been lazy, I had been too tied up with Lit's funeral, I had been too busy catching up on actual work and business that my photography had suffered.... to friends I disguised it as 'oh, I'm working to change my shooting style recently'....total bull shit.

If I went to Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai (China) I knew it would be a week of fun mixed in with some half hearted shooting with nothing much really to say through the images.

I pull out a map of India and immediately am reminded of Ragubir Singh's great body of works on the Grand Trunk road from Delhi to Calcutta.

The very mention of Calcutta brought images of humanity's crushing presence in India's largest city and also one of the most densely populated cities in the world.....Mother Teresa's good works in this cess pool also came to mind.

I spent 2 days surfing the Net on anything Calcutta and through its images smelled the soul of the city. I wanted to know more about Calcutta ..... surely there must be hope, joy and happiness in this sprawling metropolis. Frankly the images of Calcutta that I've seen so far....frightened me

A quick email to Shahidul Alam from Drik photo agency in Dhaka, Bangladesh and another door opens for me. Drik apparently has an office in Calcutta and Shahidul introduces me to a friend there running the office.

I called my travel agent yesterday and cancelled my connections to Hong Kong..... and booked myself a Singapore-Bangkok-Calcutta trip.......stopping back in my favorite Thai city for 5 days after a week in India.

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