I used to have Canon DSLR 6D with various L lenses. But when I tried to take some photos in Seoul with DSLR, people always stared at me as if I was an intruder or some kind. Even though I didn’t want to take photos of people in the street, I got bothering look.
With Leica camera, this never happened to me. In fact, no one really cared about my camera. This in fact gave me huge advantage when it comes to street photography.
We have orange taxies in Seoul like the yellow taxies in NYC. It’s called Haechi taxi. (Haechi is a symbol of Seoul). Most drivers can’t speak English at all, but with your mobile phone, if you show destination in either Korean or English, drivers will figure out the location. Also you can pay with credit card with all taxies.
Seoul is quite large city. North side of city is called “Gang-book” and South side of city is called “Gang-nam” as in Gang-nam street song. In north area, you get to see more old street with modern buildings right next to each other while in south area, you get to see fancy streets with luxury shops. I live close to Gang-nam street, but I prefer visiting north of Seoul as there are a lot of interesting streets(and more historical sites.)
Especially this national museum of art in north side of Seoul is very interesting place. Not only there are interesting exhibits in this museum, but also there are a lot of old streets with interesting shops and restaurants. Also King’s palace is within a few minutes distance from here.
I am often mesmerized by these streets with arts. Sometimes, when I take photos of these streets, I feel like traveling through time as if I heard ancestors’ conversation right next to me.
Next year, I plan to capture one particular street in fours seasons with a film Leica M7 camera. This might be quite interesting project. Same location, with a same camera, lens and film.