The quaint port town of Paraty lies along Costa Verde, the Green Coast of Brazil
The architecture has been preserved all these years, aided in part by the mass exodus of the town that left it nearly empty for many years
A hop, skip and jump (ok, 4 hour bus ride) from the world famous Rio de Janeiro along the Costa Verde (Green Coast) of Brazil lies the little UNESCO heritage town of Paraty, sometimes spelt Parati, but always pronounced Para-Chee.
A little piece of Portugal in tropical Brazil, Paraty was a blast from the past, chock full of old colonial architecture, cobbled streets, horse drawn carriages and old men peddling sweets in carts. A port town, Paraty is decidedly working class, and the simple, almost rough hewn architecture reflects that fact. In the 1800s when gold was still flowing from the mines up in Minas Gerais, Paraty was the port the Portuguese used to ferry the loot out of the country and to imperial coffers in Lisbon. When that gold dried up, Paraty fell in importance and faded into the annals of history, a mass exodus left the town almost empty, but it also meant that the buildings remained preserved in time without too much degradation all these years.
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X-Pro1 Diaries: The Ice Cream Man Cometh
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Belgian chocolate? Nope. Macha (Japanese Green Tea)? Nope. Madagascan Vanilla? Nope. The flavours on offer from one of the last vestiges of Singapore’s past, The Ice Cream Uncle are rather more local and unpretentious, childhood favourites like Red Bean, Sweet Corn, Coconut, etc, conjuring up memories of running after the Ice Cream Uncle on his modified motorcycle/mobile ice cream stall as kids, and sticky fingers from melting ice cream we subsequently wolfed down. The ice cream options are available either in cone form, or sandwiched between two pieces of wafer, or even the local favourite, between a slice of colourful bread. Unapologetically low fi, the Ice Cream Uncle plies his trade in various locations at various times, there’s no regularity as to where he will be at any one day, charging only $1 (USD0.80) for each indulgent treat.
I no longer see any young person doing this, the young no doubt opting for more glamourous career options, and once this batch of Ice Cream Uncles eventually disappear, surely, so will a part of our collective childhoods.
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Portraits on Arab Street with the X-Pro1
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The sky had been dark and grumbling for a while when I arrived at Arab Street, threatening to pour its watery load down at any moment. This is not very typical weather in March, it is supposed to be hot, and dry. The air crackled with the impending rain, but seemingly oblivious to the drama, most people were going about their evening. Office types arriving, their ties loosened and sleeves rolled up. Muslim ladies hurrying to the shelter of the mosque before the rain came. Trendy youngers comparing their fixed-gear bicycles. Tourists strolling through the heritage district, trying to soak it all in.
In an instant, the clouds thinned, and almost magically, the sky turned pink and purple and orange, washing everything below in this surreal light. No one seemed to notice the scene had been bathed in otherworldly colours, shifting again from hues of violet, magenta and peach, the shoppers kept shopping, the diners kept eating, the tourists kept walking, and the kids hanging around the street corners, kept smoking.
Just as suddenly as it came, the light faded away, first turning a deep purple hue, before, as if sighing, going completely to black. The rain had come.
The Camera
My 4th day of shooting with the X-Pro1 now, I am starting to get the sense of its nuances, and its inclination towards setting my shutter speed at 1/52s (for the 35mm lens), whilst perfectly handhold-able, is unnecessary as it could have just as easily bumped the ISO up a stop and given me that bit more leeway in avoiding camera shake. I made sure to keep the camera extra steady this time round and was rewarded by mostly sharp pictures.
Again, the retro looking camera and silent shutter put my subjects at ease.
This camera was built for the streets.
I will be posting my ongoing photos and thoughts on the Fuji X-Pro1, please bookmark or subscribe to Handcarry Only to join me on my journey.
View the rest of my ongoing X-Pro1 experiences and photos or the rest of the photos on Handcarry Only
‘Ding Ding’ Tram by Night | Hong Kong 2008
Originally laid over a 100 years ago, the tram tracks are not unlike an ancient artery in the heart of Hong Kong, snaking from Kennedy Town in the west to Shau Kei Wan in the east. The trams with their distinctive ‘ding ding’ bells warning pedestrians of their impending approach are a cheap and picturesque mode of transport within the city.
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