[Leica] SLUG fest 2000

[Alastair Firkin <firkin@netconnect.com.au>]

Dear Friends,

Times are changing -- this is a cliche so often used, that we no longer
really hear it, but at no time, has this cliche been truer especially in
greater Asia. It is in the true spirit of the Leica, that LUGGERS we are
meeting are there to capture and hold some of the past and present for
those who follow.

In Singapore, we were greatly honoured to lunch, meet and shoot with a very
enthusiastic group of Leica Users, whose passion for what is around them,
what they are losing and where they are heading is infectious. Our meeting
began in a small Indian restaurant IMPALA, where we exchanged stories and
learnt a little of each other. Our host was Dan, and we met Paul, Edmund,
Dennis and Lee all SLUGGERS and Jim from Hong Kong. As a group, we were
quite spread from the older world "economy" of medicine (using its high end
technology however) through to the world of finance, e-commerce, software
marketing and computer chip design. New technology users bound by old
technology cameras and hell bent on enjoying traditional Indian fare washed
down with old economy beer ;-)

The highlight of the day, however, would be the photo shoot -- not for this
group the postcards of Singapore, but off to see the "dark-side". We
started in Little India, but ducked into the back streets behind the shops.
Here we found traces of the decorations and buildings common at the time of
WWII and saw Indian and Bangladeshi contract workers. Soon after, we lost
our host to the demands of "labour". Then we skirted the outer perimeter of
little India. On the streets vans filled with produce became instant shops,
cash is king, trees serve as shelter for shrines and we made our way to an
open air junk market --- a "market of thieves". Here odds and sods of small
value are all traded to keep the economy of the 'dark-side' moving. Further
back we ventured past the seediest street in Singapore - Deskar where
tatooed Singaporean 'mafia' moved quickly off as the Leica police arrived.
Boys will be girls and the drunken customers do not know or care on this
street, where the tourist is tolerated by day and the darker elements keep
clear of our Leicas -- we should not dare to venture there or bring our
cameras after dusk.

The houses and shops are all pastels, fading colours some of which are
being lost to renovation. It is here that our guide has been steadily
documenting the decaying romance of old Singapore -- I await the book that
is to be drawn from these images, which now number several thousands over
12 years. Our journey took us back into little India via a tea break and
relaxation in one of the more typical coffee shops -- decayed outdoor
drinking where we could watch the locals and their dogs go about daily
life. Our final walk past fortune tellers with trained parrots, 3
generations of Jewellery shops, spice and curry sellers till we crossed the
road and canal to be back into clean busy, modern, commercial Singapore.

Our guides left us at the Hotel. We were hot and wringing with sweat. It
had been a fantastic 3 hours.

At lunch we met Jim Nelon who also has a Leica tale to tell. We had missed
Jim on our visit to Hong Kong but were delighted to meet him here. He was
not able to come on the Photo shoot, but will  have his Images (taken on a
10 month break from work) in Leica Fotographie 5/00 and out in book form
soon. Images of isolated pockets of humanity in a rapidly changing world,
shot with the R8, by one of our "own". I can't wait to see them. Like
Adrian Bradshaw, Jim hates to leave Asia -- so much is happening that even
a week or two away will see changes that can never be re-explored, so they
want to see and be involved in as much as time can allow them.

Europe, Australia, and North America seem stagnant, slow and unchanging to
the 'Leica' eye that lives in the dynamo of Asia.

Alastair Firkin

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~firkin/AGFhmpg.html