X-E5 x Bao Zoan
Stepping into this city, I thought that when I returned, I would have a mechanical engineering degree, and the shift in life and the desire to find opportunities for self-development grew stronger. Gradually, my relationship with this city became longer thanks to photography. I will spend most of my time taking commercial service photos, but at the same time, I always take photos of everyday life at work and in life when I have the chance.
Ho Chi Minh City life is associated with roads, alleys, stairs, long-standing apartment complexes, modern urban areas… Wandering the streets into any alley is always my way of looking for the lights that change constantky with the seasons. The resonance from the development of the city and the people who are always in a hurry have made this city never lose the ability to surprise when taking photos. Walking a lot helps me and Fujifilm X-E5 become two flexible companions while walking and taking photos. The size and weight of this camera are very light and compact, which gives me the inspiration to take photos in any environment.
The weather in this city is mainly hot and rainy, and I am not a person who likes hot weather. I choose to take photos after 4pm with pleasant weather and more bustling activities. At night, I use the XF 33mm F1.4R lens, which is close to the 50mm focal length that I use the most. The X-E5 is equipped with in-body image stabilization, along with the X-Processor 5 processing on the sensor format up to 40 megapixels, which partly ensures image quality with creative results in cropping. Taking photos at night seems really difficult, but being willing to challenge yourself with complex light sources along with a reliable camera helps me dispel my previous doubts.
My favorite moment when traveling with the X-E5 happened when I captured the scene of the city lighting up at the same time as the newly built Metro line was put into operation. This is like a clear portrait of this city.
Standing out on the design of the X-E5 when holding it in hand, you can immediately see the film simulation dial, this dial is like a separate toy that I have used many times to change between Classic Chrome and Provia colors, very fun to use. In addition, I have not used all the color modes on the camera, using Classic Chrome many times is a habit from the first time using Fujifilm X-T1 and now with X-E5, the color, sharpness and classic feel still retain the feeling when using Fujifilm.
The large living space with good view that I often go to recently is an old apartment rooftop in District 4. I can see across the poor, ordinary buildings gradually moving to high-rise buildings densely stacked on top of each other. Here I observed the slowness of small activities taking place next to a vast landscape, with the digital tele converter function on the camera helping me to frame the image directly, I know this can be done in post-production but the image is perfect at the moment of shooting as it maintains the emotion after looking back at the photo on a larger screen.
The way I create visual language after many years of holding the camera is a commitment between the real environment combined with the cinematic frames I love + a little bit of unpredictable randomness in everyday photography everything happens at the same time, I looked into the viewfinder focusing on the interactions that were happening and slowing down waiting in that viewfinder, feeling at that time the world of photography was covered in silence with only me as the audience of that space.
