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.

Larry Hallegua photography (1) Larry Hallegua photography (2)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.

Larry Hallegua photography (3) Larry Hallegua photography (4) Larry Hallegua photography (5)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.

Larry Hallegua photography (6) Larry Hallegua photography (7)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.

Larry Hallegua photography (8) Larry Hallegua photography (9)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.

Larry Hallegua photography (10) Larry Hallegua photography (11) Larry Hallegua photography (12) Larry Hallegua photography (13) Larry Hallegua photography (14) Larry Hallegua photography (15) Larry Hallegua photography (16) Larry Hallegua photography (17) Larry Hallegua photography (18) Larry Hallegua photography (19)All photos © Larry Hallegua : Website | Instagram | Observe’s websiteLoopers website