As usual, I’m surprised at how fast time passes. It’s a damn pity Singapore doesn’t get seasons. I’m quite sure that time, when seasonal, is a much more magnanimous entity. I’m of the popular opinion that everyone fares better when regarded against the backdrop of an impending summer (rather than a continuous one). 

Running from Camera. I don’t think I’ll get very far. 

After browser-shopping on Amazon for a week or so and getting nowhere, I decided to pay a visit to the library. Libraries are also forgiving creatures, so I paid my fines and am myself a good library citizen again. And surprisingly, our libraries have quite a satisfying selection of photobooks. In hardcover, no less, and since no one ever borrows them out, most are in pristine condition. No dubious stains, nor is there any dried booger stuck between pages. I took out three books, one of which was Grim Street by Mark Cohen. I haven’t really heard of the photographer until now, though I do remember having seen a few of the images that are in the book elsewhere previously.

Mark Cohen – Bubble Gum

He definitely has (had?) an interesting style. A tad confrontational – I consider anyone who does street photography with a flash confrontational and brave – and I like that his photographs don’t conform to what I would expect from street photography. You get (intentionally) faceless or headless shots, close up shots of hair, tweed coats or teeth etc; there is seldom a ‘decisive’ moment or an obvious significance that you can pinpoint straightaway, but there is almost always something alive (and lively) and immediate about the images.

Mark Cohen – Boy in Box (left), Girls Playing under Box (right)

There isn’t a lot of information online, but here’s a decent selection of his works.

(Images from here)