It has been more than half a year since I came back from Almaty, Kazakhstan, but I still think about its spectacular landscape, vast expanse, rich culture, amazing food, and of course photographing during the trip. It has been an eye-opening experience, and some lessons are learnt, which I’d like to share here.
Know the place
The first thing is to be prepared and have some basic understanding of the destination. This should be done when you’re planning the trip. It gives you the idea on what subject you may or may not photograph, the traditions and rules, and maybe what paths you can take when photographing.
Take Almaty as an example, it’s the old capital of the world’s ninth-largest country and certainly much bigger than Hong Kong. Also, it is less walkable than I thought, which is out of expectation, even if there are metro networks and buses (I'm glad that we hired a local guide to take us around the city). There aren’t many cultural taboos in Almaty, and it’s quite a laid-back place given that you respect people and use common sense. And with the unique Central Asian culture, we expect the architecture and streets to be quite different from my hometown, and it is – think soviet architecture with a classical European spin, and Kazak motifs found in the details.
If budget permits, I recommend you hire a local guide or join a local walking tour, as this will help you navigate the city better, and know more about its history and culture through conversation, which is an invaluable experience. Personally I prefer spending some more money to get an in-depth experience of a place to visiting a lot of places but come back with a less comprehensive impression of a city.
But don’t be limited by expectations
This seems to contradict the first point, but it makes sense in terms of the meaning of travel and practising street photography. Part of the joy of these two activities come from surprise. And let’s be honest, even if you have remembered every single detail about your destination, you will still have cultural shock or be surprised by the environment. If you limit yourself with expectations, it’s likely you will lose the opportunity to fully immerse in another culture and place, get trapped in your echo chamber, and be frustrated when you can’t take photos of certain subjects.
When taking photos in Almaty, I thought I could capture the hustle and bustle of the city, and get to photograph lots of crowds in the markets. But with the low population density there, this is kind of out of the question. Therefore, my mindset needs to shift. Instead of capturing the lively ambience that I want or expect, I will need to focus on the tranquillity and peace of the place it exudes. This will be all about bringing out the best of the city’s character.
Be adaptive
The second point brings us to the third point – be adaptive to unfamiliar environments and limitations, which is also one of the important elements of street photography. Instead of sticking to the usual workflow, you may want to experiment with a new style, new camera settings, or way of taking photos, in order to capture the uniqueness of the place.
For instance, when travelling in Almaty and the surrounding regions, I didn't get many chances to really walk in the urban areas, and some of the countryside roads weren’t that accessible. I mainly travelled by car, so sometimes I would need to take photos from a moving car, which is a challenge, but still I managed to get some shots on the road. Some of them have become my all-time favourites.
Take photos for yourself, not for social media or anyone else
The fourth point is obvious, but always forgotten in the age of social media. Take whatever photos you want, even if it seems cliche. It may be the only chance you visit the destination, so capture whatever you want to avoid future regrets. Let loose the photographic rules for a moment, it’s not cliche if you can find personal meaning in the image. Also, don’t shoot in only portrait format for social media. Some compositions and scenes are best shown in landscape format. On the storytelling side, this is also crucial as it can help tell the story in a more comprehensive manner and let your audience understand the place better; not everyone has been to the destination before.
One of my biggest regrets of the trip to Almaty is not taking the ‘cliche’ photos, for example I didn’t take the images of the whole Ascension Cathedral, and only took photos in portrait as I was only thinking about ‘creating content’ for Instagram. This is definitely a big mistake and I learnt the lesson the hard way.
Embrace different genres
The last thing is to embrace different genres. Your destination is definitely more than the streets. You may come across great food, lively public events, breathtaking scenery, the precious wildlife, or unique people. See something that’s unfamiliar? Photograph it. See something that will appear once in your lifetime? Document it even if it's not about the streets.
In Kazakhstan, at first I wasn’t quite interested in the natural scenery, but I couldn’t be more wrong – Big Almaty Lake is like a smooth turquoise gem surrounded by the beautiful forest, The Charyn Canyon leaves me in awe with the sharp rugged relief, and Lake Kaindy displays its mysterious allure with the trees submerged in water. Nature shows its true power and tenderness in Kazakhstan. I’m glad I took these photos and now I’ve become interested in nature photography, hoping I can visit and capture the beauty of nature parks in Hong Kong.
I hope this note helps you enjoy taking photos and travelling better, and avoid any future regrets. Life's too short to limit yourself with certain expectations of a place and culture and a certain photo genre. Let’s enjoy and make use of every trip to the fullest, both in personal and artistic terms.