吉姆 JIM HOFMAN | Photography Faces & places in China

Posts Tagged ‘Old people’
Analog | The Village – Fall 2023
Analog | The Village - Fall 2023

Back at the village to visit friends, take photos – and watch the rice get harvested. All photos were shot on a Leica M7 with a Voigtlander 28mm Ultron V2 lens. The film stock was either Kodak Portra 400, Kodak Gold 200, or Fujifilm Superia 400. Processing & scans were done in Hong Kong / […]

Analog | Ningbo & Yangjiang
Analog | Ningbo & Yangjiang

These two cities are my homes away from home and I bounced back and forth between them during most trips to China.

Analog | Village in the Summer
Analog | Village in the Summer

I took the Hasselblad Xpan to the village for some pano images. It’s usually a challenge to compose a panoramic photo in a small area like a village, but I’ve started using a wide 28mm Nikon lens on the Xpan which has made it easier.

Analog | Hong Kong after Covid
Analog | Hong Kong after Covid

Well, that was a long 3 years… All Photos were shot on 35mm film using three different cameras (Leica M6, Bessa R2, Zeiss Ikon ZM).

Analog | The Village after Covid
Analog | The Village after Covid

I was relieved to see all of my village friends survived the December of 2022 Covid wave that swept through China.

Analog | Ningbo Village 5.20
Analog | Ningbo Village 5.20

More street portraits from the village in Ningbo. I’ve entered a new stage in this project because in early May I printed a photo book with all of the images I had shot and distributed the book to everyone in the village who had allowed me to take their portrait. This created an incentive for […]

Shanghai 10.18
Shanghai 10.18

It had been a while since I was in Shanghai, but we had a weekend to kill during Mid-Autumn Festival so we took the high-speed train up to Hongjiao station and spent some time in the city center.  And wow was it crowded. 

Hong Kong 8.18
Hong Kong 8.18

I made three stops in Hong Kong during my five-week summer trip.  Plenty of time for some photos in the extreme heat and humidity.  I used a USB-powered lens warmer to pre-heat my lens so it didn’t fog up when I left my air-conditioned hotel room.

Hong Kong and China at f0.95
Hong Kong and China at f0.95

I typically dedicate posts to a single location on a trip, but this post is dedicated to a single f-stop – f0.95.  Mitakon makes a 35mm lens with a wicked-fast f0.95 aperture.  Shooting wide open with this lens yields a razor-thin depth of field.

Shenzhen 10.17
Shenzhen 10.17

I use Shenzhen as my pivot point as I travel to other cities in China on business.  The Shekou area is very western and very comfortable on the weekends.  The food is great and the beer is cold.

Hong Kong 8.17
Hong Kong 8.17

Five-mile street photography walk + strained knee ligament = real pain.  But worth it.

Yangjiang 7.17
Yangjiang 7.17

I participated in the first ever Yangjiang Street Photography Photo Walk this week.  There was three of us, but only two photographers.

Kathmandu 7.17
Kathmandu  7.17

An amazing place – only a 4-hour flight from Guangzhou, but decades behind China.  We arrived prepared for Nepal’s summer monsoon season but returned with sun burns because of the unusually beautiful weather in July.

Hong Kong 3.17
Hong Kong  3.17

I enjoyed a whirlwind photo walk in TST and Mong Kok for a few hours before flying home. I logged 9.2 miles of walking and got some interesting close-up shots. I used the 14mm f2.8 lens on the Fuji X-Pro2 for all of these images.

Yangjiang | Zhapo 3.17
Yangjiang | Zhapo  3.17

The weather was warm and it felt great to get out and shoot. This is my first trip with the X-Pro2 and a bag of lenses and it was amazing! I spent most of the trip experimenting with settings and lenses.

Shenzhen | Qingxi 2.17
Shenzhen | Qingxi 2.17

I was lazy and didn’t get out to the Qingxi wet market early in the morning like I usually do, but there is always activity there and an opportunity for street photos. I also stopped briefly in Shenzhen and got out for a couple hours.

Yangjiang 10.16
Yangjiang  10.16

Another stop in Yangjiang and I wandered down into the old part of the city for a few photos.  I’m experimenting with Fuji’s 56mm f1.2 lens for street photography.  All of these photos were shot wide open at either f1.2 or f1.4.  Two words – Not easy.                 […]

Kuala Lumpur 10.16
Kuala Lumpur  10.16

Not China, but it sure does feel like Hong Kong – and an amazing place for street photography.  Kuala Lumpur is a melting pot in Malaysia, with people from all over Asia and the west.  It’s also an incredibly cheap place for a holiday.  We stayed in an AirBnB one block from the main bar […]

Beijing 6.16
Beijing 6.16

This was my third trip to Beijing. Each time I see the same sights, so this time I was prepared to get some decent photos because I’ve already done the scouting.

Yangjiang 7.16
Yangjiang 7.16

It was blazing hot in Yangjiang this July. I was only able to get out for street photos a couple times because it was raining so much and my schedule was nuts. Heat + rain = humidity. Not great for lenses sitting in an overly air conditioned hotel room. I had to preheat my camera before shooting.

Hong Kong | Mongkok 4.16
Hong Kong | Mongkok 4.16

We took a great walk through the Ladies Market in Mongkok before dinner. I love the energy of that area of Hong Kong. It’s an incredibly target-rich area and home to a couple great camera stores. What else could you ask for?

Ningbo 4.16
Ningbo 4.16

I made my usual stop in Ningbo and took photos near my usual shopping mall (Wanda Plaza). Except for the people in the photos it looks like the photos could have been taken in Minneapolis.

Qingxi 11.15
Qingxi 11.15

I absolutely love southern China in October and early November. The humidity and big heat are gone. You can actually walk around in the middle of the day instead of hiding in an air conditioned office or hotel. That meant I could get out and enjoy lots of street photography without my lens fogging.

Guangzhou / Ningbo 10.15
Guangzhou / Ningbo 10.15

My trip took me to both Ningbo & Guangzhou where I stayed at hotels that were both next to a Wanda Mall. This is a chain of upscale malls where China’s middle class goes to spend the money they’ve earned from Walmart.