Seeing Invaders

Browsing through some of my Bangkok photographs I came across one with a mosaic Space Invader character. These little creatures are the work of a French artist (you can read more in a wikipedia article about the Invader and the characters inspired by the Space Invaders game), although I assume there are some copycats, too. I remember seeing many an invader during my travels and often photographing them. Here are some I could find from my archives.

Let's start with Paris, where the Invader started his project in 1998. These two photographs were taken with the excellent Sigma DP1 camera, which I have since sold.

Paris, 2008 - Sigma DP1, 1/500, f/7.1, ISO 200

Paris, 2008 - Sigma DP1, 1/160, f/8, ISO 100

The next two photographs I composed with some colour repetition in mind. The first one connects the invader to the person walking the road below via repeating colours. The second photograph is the one from Bangkok that inspired this blog post. The yellowish orange colour of the wrist band is repeated in the mosaic. In addition, the pattern of the legs is repeated in the tentacles of the invader. Not the greatest framing, but I quite like it.

Lausanne, 2008 - Canon 30D, 1/640, f/4, ISO 100

Bangkok, 2011 - Leica M8, 1/180, ISO 160

Photographic déjà vu

Already seen, already photographed. I sometimes hear the argument that everything has been photographed. Why would you then take a picture of the same scene, building, flower, bug - or even person - which has already been photographed a million times before? To see how it looks when you click the shutter yourself I guess.

Sometimes you know that not only has a similar photograph been taken before by many others, but you have taken it yourself at least once. This is often the case with scenes close to home or your favourite destination, even more so with pets and portraits of family members. Sometimes it's however something mundane far away from home, like this scene in Rethymnon, Crete, which I photographed twice. I have to admit the second image was simply a snap that I quickly took, when witnessing a moment of photographic déjà vu.

Rethymnon, Crete, 2008 - Canon EOS-30D, 1/500, f/7.1, ISO 100

Rethymnon, Crete, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/250, ISO 160

The lens on the Canon 30D was the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM. On M8, I believe it was the Voigtländer 35/1.4 Nokton SC. Note the difference in quality of light. Neither is excellent, but the difference is huge. The photo from 2008 was taken in late morning light, the photo from 2010 in the middle of the day beneath the hot Mediterranean sun.

More cats from the islands

Nothing more than a bunch of random cat photos from the Greek islands.

Oia, Santorini, 2007 - Canon EOS-30D, 1/320, f/5.6, ISO 400

Amorgos, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/250, ISO 160

Amorgos, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/500, ISO 160

Amorgos, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/250, ISO 160

Amorgos, 2010 - Fujifilm Superia 200

Amorgos, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/360, ISO 160

And finally a more urban cat:

Iraklion, Crete, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/90, ISO 160

The photograph with the Canon was made with the Canon EF 70-200/4L lens. The rest? Your guess is almost as good as mine. I think I see at least the Voigtländer 35/1.4 Nokton SC there. The film shot is a pretty heavy crop.