PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY TC LIN

For March 2022, 2 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the second of the 2 photos, by TC Lin.

Some words from TC about the photo:

“I was wandering the alleys of the port city of Keelung, Taiwan when I spotted this oddly shaped old building with its lights of various colors in the blue light of dusk, cables and wires spilling from its orifices. Buildings here are often contorted into interesting shapes due to owners wanting to utilize every part of irregularly shaped plots of land. A man in the window in a helmet and one glove off in order to smoke lent the scene a sense of scale as well as an idea of the people who live there.”

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY TC LIN

Photo of the month for November 2021 by TC Lin, as voted by BME members.

Some words from TC about the photo:

“After a long hiatus, I was on a photowalk with some of my students, who were gathered around a TV film shoot in a stall in an unassuming neighborhood just south of Taipei's Songshan Airport. I kept walking up the road and spotted this vendor cleaning up after closing shop for the day. At the time I'd thought I would have liked to have been closer, but he was only in the doorway for a brief moment as I was passing so this was the only shot I could get. But I actually prefer the way he is framed by the empty stalls and the strong afternoon
sunlight reflected off the metal surfaces and wet concrete.”

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY TC LIN

Photo of the month for September 2021 by TC Lin, as voted by BME members.

Some words from TC about the photo:

“Though the pandemic has been handled quite well here in Taiwan so far, I've been spending less time wandering around the city and spending more time in my neighborhood of Bitan, along the Xindian River with
its many bridges. One morning while walking by the river I noticed that the sunlight and shadow happened to meet precisely in the middle of one of the bridge pillars where it met the greenish water of Bitan to form this pattern. I don't often see this array, so perhaps the angle of the sun that day was unusual. In any case, it says something about how the pandemic has affected my photography.”

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY TC LIN

Photo of the month for September 2020 by TC Lin, as voted by BME members.

Some words from TC about the photo:

‘‘Every day I cross a historic suspension bridge built nearly a century ago by the Japanese. It spans a body of water called "Bitan" or "Green Lake" because the waters are often brilliant shades of green due to the mineral content, the light, and nearby vegetation. People swim up and down the "lake" (it is actually part of a river) in the morning, and I often take their photos from the bridge. On this occasion I saw an older swimmer sporting bright red goggles that matched the green water perfectly, and snapped a shot just as he was facing upward as he swam by underneath, into the shadow of the bridge.’’

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY TC LIN

For July 2020, 3 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the first of the 3 photos, by TC Lin.

Some words from TC about the photo:

'‘Masks have for some time been mandatory inside all public transport in Taiwan. I was taking the escalator at a metro station in Taipei recently when I noticed a couple on the next escalator, playing with each other's hair. I thought this was cute and brought my camera up when they exchanged a brief "kiss" through their matching black masks. I didn't think much about it until, not long after I'd posted the shot online, I got a message from the man in the photo, saying he and his girlfriend were the couple in the shot, and how much they loved it. Of course I sent them a copy. It was a wonderful feeling and really made my day.'‘

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY TC LIN

For June 2020, 2 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the second of the 2 photos, by TC Lin.

Some words from TC about the photo:

''I was recently at the Dizang Temple in Xinzhuang, Taiwan; it was a busy day with crowds of worshippers, and as I observed a group of people chanting near the altar, a woman brushed by me. I noticed that she was not only holding both a baby and a handful of incense, her arms were also heavily tattooed. The sight struck me as mothers come in all shapes, sizes and colors, and the figures etched on her skin seemed to be surrounding the child with her mission of protection.''

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY TC LIN

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I was recently on a flight back to Taiwan after teaching a BME workshop in Bangkok with fellow members Barry Talis and Rammy Narula. As the plane circled the airport before landing, rays of the afternoon sun floated across the cabin, briefly illuminating the face and red scarf of the stewardess sitting under the flight path map in front of the exit row where I was seated. I had my camera with me and was able to catch the moment the light flitted across her the second time the plane turned before landing. The sound of the shutter made her look up, but my camera was already tucked away.

By TC Lin

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY TC LIN

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"I was in Havana a month or so after our esteemed new member Gustavo Minas visited the city, producing his own fine work as the city was experiencing uncharacteristically cloudy weather. When I arrived in late February, however, the strong Caribbean sun had returned, casting strong rays down the streets and lighting the vivid colors of the rundown buildings. It was almost distracting, as anyone who had photographed in Cuba can attest.

I probably should have been heading east on the crowded shopping street in Old Havana that day, but east lay the harbor and west my destination, so west I went, wincing into the afternoon sun. I paused when I saw the man leaning against the wall at the end of a saber of light along a duo-tone pastel wall, the reflections of sunlit passersby flitting behind him on the green glass of the recessed door. His grey hair and coral shirt matched the ornate wall perfectly, and the light caught his face whenever he turned his head to look up the street. He seemed to be waiting for someone, peering periodically at his watch and rubbing his neck, causing his arm to continue the stab of light down his body. He glanced at me, saw that both my lens and my uncovered eye were fixed on the wall, and continued to ignore me as I shot a few frames and walked on, into the light."