Postcard from Bishkek

I have written before about Maxim and his hobby: Photography.

He certainly seems to have taken to it … and the results are quite impressive.

Of course, he knows that many photographs are just “snapshots”, ruined (or at least marred) by bad positioning or not taking proper account of the light … or speed.  As with any photographer, a lot of the shots he takes are “brak“, not really good and dispensed with.  Mind you, I am impressed that he seems to spend hours looking them over to see what he can learn from his “mistakes”.

Even the “bad” photos sometimes have the odd redeeming feature … tucked away to one side or in a corner.  Computer software gives him the chance to “clean” them and “crop” them into something quite presentable.

Victor and Andrew, (two of our photographer friends – one from Bishkek and the other from Singapore), and I take great pains to tell him how lucky he is to be living now, in the days of digital cameras and computer imaging software.  In the days of film – every shot cost … both in terms of time and money … and so, wherever possible, each photograph was carefully considered.  I have tried to tell him about the patience needed by Peter Fleming and Ella Maillard when taking photos in Kashgar on their trip from China to India … but it is a different world and he is more than willing to take the benefit of all the advantages that technology offers, living in the twenty first century.

On the whole, however, he does listen attentively – and seems eager to learn … especially to pick up any little tricks or hints about how to get a better shot … even if sometimes he appears a little dismissive of our “old fashioned” ways, attitudes and ideas.

When he shows people his pictures, (he’s downloaded a lot of them onto his phone and will pull it out at every opportunity to show someone), there is usually a round of applause or praise.  He has also put quite a few of them up on social media sites and some people have asked about some of them if it really is his photograph, or whether he has lifted them from the internet.  Apart from the ones where he actually appears … such as some of the shots riding his other great passion – a BMX bike … they are all his.   He is even responsible for some of the ones that he appears in – thanks to the time delay function.

 

He’s been anxious to show off his skills and, ever since he went to Victor’s exhibition “Micro Cherez Macro” at the Frunze Museum last year he has been asking me if it would be possible to organize one himself.

My first thought was something like, “He doesn’t really understand what it means … “.  It seemed to me that he thought it was simply a case that once he had chosen which photographs to include … everything else would fall into place … like magic.

I told him to go and do some research – find a place that could hold the exhibition, (and discover how much it would cost) … think about how they would be displayed, (in frames, or mounted on board and hung on a wall, or simply taped onto a stand – he seems to appreciated that there are different techniques … each with their own advantages and suitable for different venues).

My main concern was that he thinks it is so easy … his main concern seems to be that I was making it too difficult.

Anyway, he discovered that the cost hiring a hall would be too exorbitant … and I assured him that I wouldn’t be paying just to give a boost to his ego.

He suggested putting up an exhibition at the hotel and we looked at the possibility … but in the end that fell through as we were doing some renovations.   From my experience as a schoolteacher, I suggested that he ask at school if he could mount a display – for example in the home base classroom.  He dismissed the idea but when they organized a photograph competition, and he won first prize, he had second thoughts and was delighted when they agreed.  They even had a couple of stands he could use and place in the main foyer:

To be honest, I thought that the collection of photographs he chose to display was a bit eclectic … portraits, landscapes, night scenes, some fauna and flora.  There were actually quite a lot of other pictures that I felt he could have chosen … but passed over.  His excuse was that there wasn’t enough space.

I also thought that he could have grouped and presented them better … but, hey, it’s his first attempt and a good “learning experience”.

He called the exhibition “The world through my eyes”

He has also chose a nom de plume. (or nom de camera !) – a pseudonym for his “professional identity“: Maxim Claytor.

Anyway, here is a selection of some of the photos he chose.  To see a larger image, click on a thumbnail and then Prev or Next to navigate through them).

 

 

Tags: Baseball_Kids, Expat, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan