Made in Chengdu : Street Photography of Larry Hallegua

Photostream of Larry Hallegua is a picture gallery of bittersweet moments and fanciful characters frozen into bizarre activities by a timely click. Originally from London, Larry is currently living in Bangkok. He’s also a member of Observe, an international street photography collective and Loopers, a group of street photographers based in Thailand. He prefer to shoot with a pocket-friendly Fuji X100 which gives him enough chances and efficacy to capture splendid street shots that look vibrant and meticulously composed.

---

About me: I stumbled into street photography around the end of 2011/beginning of 2012, after picking up a Henri Cartier Bresson book. My knowledge of photography up till that point consisted of family/friend snaps and crappy holiday photos. I had experimented with a couple of 80s manual SLRs, and purchased numerous lenses and read a couple of books to get the basics, but that was all, I’ve never studied any courses and I don’t have a photography library either.

My preferences and methods: I shoot candid moments, with a Fuji x100s. I prefer using just one camera, as over the 4 years, I’ve got to know it’s coverage quite well, which really aids when shooting quickly. I try and carry my camera around with me wherever I go, so a lot of my photos are chance encounters whilst I’m going from A to B. I also go out to specifically shoot, sometimes waiting in certain locations that feel right because of the mood or busyness of a scene, other times, I’m restless and snap quickly as I go, tending to not linger too long in any one place. I do try to work/exhaust scenes when I stumble on something, or someone I like, trying my best to not be detected, but ultimately I want to be in and out fast. I can shoot very up close, as much as a metre away or from 5 metres plus. Maybe on average I tend to be about 2-3 metres away if I was to generalise. I zone focus a lot, hardly ever use auto-focus, maybe sometimes when I’m in low light indoors.

I’m open to shooting in most environments, I like inside the metro a lot and stations. I very rarely revisit the same part of a street because of the light at a certain time of day for example, but may return to the same place, such as a park that I like or pedestrianised area, or public event. I’m attracted to quirky things generally speaking, but I’m a big believer in going for a shot even though it may only present 1 or 2 elements of interest at the time, as you never know how that scene will develop in those seconds or minutes you’re there.

My series - Made in Chengdu: Shot in the capital of the Sichuan province, between 2014-15. Chengdu had been placed in a high position of expectation, to become a pillar of economic transformation in western China, and although demonstrating a rich cultural identity, within the tightly governed society lingered a bewildering shift, to a new social and economic age.

My influences: I’m a member of two collectives, Observe, an international group of candid shooters, and Loopers, a collective made up of shooters from Thailand, where I am currently living. The photographers from both collectives inspire me a lot, as well as work from past and contemporary photographers, too many names to mention here.

All photos © Larry Hallegua : Website | Instagram | Observe’s website | Loopers website