The People and the Architecture of Kuala Lumpur and Siem Reap

October 18, 2016 Justin Mackintosh

Stars in the sky at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Under construction the Tabung Haji Hotel & Convention Centre, Sepang. Architect: Hijjas Kasturi.

The urban architecture of Kuala Lumpur.

The Troika, is a three-tower, luxury condominium development in Kuala Lumpur. Architect: Foster & Partners.

Sculptured Skylights of the Aeon shopping Complex.

Room with a view over Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur. Architect: César Pelli.

Looking up under the Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur. Architect: César Pelli.

Traditional village house of Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

One of the local Malay elders, he was born in the house he still lives in. Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

Anyone for corn. Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

Contrasts in architecture at Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

Love the textures and colours. Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

As the city encroachs the traditional village of Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

Local street food of Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

The Petronas Towers with KL Tower on the right as seen from Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

Masjid Putra is the principal mosque of Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Stunning Islamic architecture. Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Putrajaya International Convention Centre, Putrajaya, Malaysia. Architect: Hijjas Kasturi.

Lakeside at Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Rambutan Resort, Siem Reap, Cambodia

33 degreees and humid one needs a pool at the end of a day of temple exploring. Rambutan Resort. Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Beautiful Bougainvillea, Rambutan Resort. Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Loved the outdoor shower and bath, Rambutan Resort Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Past her bed time. Pub Street Siem Reap, Cambodia.

So many massage places here. Pub Street Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Never too early to read! Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The ice merchant. Looks great just don't taste any unless your local. Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The butcher Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Poultry shop Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The many facers of Bayon. Bayon is a well-known and richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor, Cambodia.

Banteay Srei is a 10th-century Khmer temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. It was a bit of drive it's my favourite Khmer temple.

Banteay Srei is built largely of red sandstone, a medium that lends itself to the elaborate decorative wall carvings which are still observable today. Angkor, Cambodia

The intricate reliefs carving of red coloured stone. Banteay Srei Angkor Cambodia

Inside the inner sanctum with the mandapa and central tower. Banteay Srei Angkor, Cambodia.

Two species predominate, the Silk-Cotton tree and the smaller Strangler Fig. With help of birds and their droppings they, have taken over many of the temples with a dramatic and eerie effect.

Afternoon sun on the outer wall of Banteay Srei Angkor Cambodia.

Ta Prohm, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

Ta Prohm is in much the same condition in which it was found. With the trees endless roots looking more like coiling reptiles than plants. Angkor, Cambodia

Ta Prohm is incredibly photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins, have made it one of most iconic Khmer temples. Angkor Cambodia.

This stone gate house is one of the entrances to Angkor Thom, The Great City, the capitol city of the Khmer Empire, and was built over 800 years ago. Angkor Cambodia.

The entry bridge at Preah Khan (meaning "Royal Sword") is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built in the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII to honour his father.

A stone gate house at one of the entrances to Preah Khan, Angkor Cambodia.

Intricate rock carvings at Preah Khan, Angkor Cambodia.

Inside the gate house of Preah Khan. Angkor Cambodia.

Preah Khan, architecturally dramatic with its colonnades and front portico. Angkor Cambodia.

Preah Khan, Its was 35 degress and super humid. Yet I love how this couple still had the energy for fashion shoot. Angkor Cambodia.

Photographers love to travel. I love it because it keeps me fresh and energised. Been a professional architectural and portrait photographer in Sydney can get pretty busy and it's great to photograph new projects without the normal constraints of my everyday photography commissions. I enjoy our regular corporate photography and shooting for our architect practices in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne too of course. People and Buildings is what I capture well. However it's interesting even when travelling with my camera in foreign countries, the experience I've gain over the years shooting the studios everyday assignments can still be applied to my personal photography.

In February this year we went to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Siem Reap in Cambodia. In fact, it was so good I wanted to go back again. So I did in September and it was well worth it.

Kuala Lumpur is a developing city with a great mix of traditional buildings, super skyscrapers and giant luxurious shopping centres. I've been there a number of times before and I'm always looking to discover something new or go back to a previous location and see how I can photograph it differently, which is a fun photography challenge. This time especially wanted to go to the tradition village of Kampung Baru. It's a Malay enclave in central Kuala Lumpur. One of the most valuable tracts of land in the capital, it has been estimated to be worth up to US$1.4 billion. Kampung Baru's elders have turned developers away, saying they want to preserve their ethnic Malay lifestyle. Hopefully my photographs have captured the spirit and culture of the local village. You must go there for wonderful traditional Malay food and to meet the wonderful friendly locals. It would be great shame to see this been wiped out by greedy developers.

After Kuala Lumpur we went to Siem Reap in Cambodia, it was the wet season so it was very green and with a fewer people around too. The complete opposite from our previous trip in February which was the dry season and masses of tourists. It was great to be able to concentrate more on photographing the stunning architecture of the Khmer temples built in the 12th century. The energetic town of Siem Reap is the gateway to the many Khmer temples in the region. Including Angkor Wat, which is the largest religious monument in the world, with the site measuring 162.6 hectares. Siem Reap is a vibrant busy town. They even have a street called Pub Street, naturally it's full of tourists all hours of the day and night. Almost anything is for sale here. I especially enjoyed the local markets, a photographers dream to shoot.

Architectural & Portrait Travel Photography

December 15, 2014 Justin Mackintosh

As a busy commercial and photographer in Sydney it’s important to take some time off occasionally and explore our neighbouring countries. However I'm always a passionate photographer even on holidays as I’m still looking for that spontaneous moment or that striking architectural landscape.

I recently visited two amazing and different cities. Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. I have been to Bangkok previously a number of years ago. It’s just as hectic as I remembered and you can still write you name in the air. Because of the air pollution you can actually get some lovely soft lighting, unlike the harsh Australian light. Kuala Lumper on the other hand was quite a surprise, very modern with just enough of Asia’s chaos to remind you you're actually not in a western city. The architecture of Kuala Lumpur is a blend of old colonial influences, Asian traditions, Malay Islamic inspirations, modern, and postmodern architecture mix. Being a relatively young city compared with other Southeast Asian capitals such as Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila, most of Kuala Lumpur's colonial buildings were built toward the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Petronas Towers once the world’s tallest buildings till 2004 are truly remarkable. They also built by Australia’s own Lend Lease.

Architectural photograph Petronas Twin Towers

Industrial Photography - White Bay Power Station Rozelle

June 24, 2014 Justin Mackintosh

The White Bay Power station is a magnificent heritage listed industrial building in Rozelle Sydney, right on the studios doorstep. The building is a photographic delight. Full of fantastic textures, colours and off course those two massive chimneystacks. In 2011 my daughter and I were lucky enough to go on a guided tour of the of this iconic Sydney building. The tour was with the Historic House Trust, now called Sydney Living Museums.

The coal power station is designed in the industrial federation architecture style. With its imposing height, sharp angles and flowing repartition in the design, it dominates the local area. It can be seen from across the harbour from Pyrmont, the Anzac Bridge and even from Barangaroo on the western side of the Sydney CBD. The building was commissioned, to satisfy the power requirements for the expansion of the Sydney tram and rail network, New South Wales Government Railways began the first phase of work on The White Bay Power Station in 1912. The building is a graphic reminder of Sydney's once industrial past. Its a shame not more of our Maritime and industrial heritage has been preserved.

The building is currently been preserved by Murphys Group Services

Adriano Zumbo Black & White Portrait - The Rocks Sydney

May 6, 2014 Justin Mackintosh

Fun and creative portraits. Here's another one of my favourites from my Personal Archive.

Following on from my successful entry in Sydney Morning Herald "Shoot The Chef" portrait competition in 2008. I was thrilled with opportunity to captured a portrait of Adriano Zumbo. I wanted to create something dark and mysterious, reminiscent of Hollywood's classical film noir period, which is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s.

So off i went location scouting. I knew the photograph needed to be captured at night to achieve the right moody look i was after. But i still needed some ambient lighting as well. So with a combination of street lighting and studio flash i was able to create a stunning, moody and even romantic black and white image. Sydney's Rocks area is a wonderful place for timeless portrait photography and classic wedding photos.

And yes I was again a finalist in the Shoot The Chef photography competition in 2009.

Sydney Photographic Art Prize "Shoot the Chef"- 2008 Finalist!

February 24, 2014 Justin Mackintosh

Welcome to the relaunch of my "Personal Photography" section being on my website. ABOUT TIME!!

Every week I will blogging about some off my past personal projects and previous entries in some of Australia's leading photographic art competitions.

As well as new stuff of course !!

So the inaugural image is one of most my memorable. It was a fun creative shoot at my previous studio in Balmain which was just around the corner from my current studio in Mansfield street Rozelle. And yes it was real bathtub; yes they had pants on; and no they did not reuse the 10 kgs of coffee beans and yes we had a great time shooting it.

I captured this image in 2008, the first of four concurrent entries that were finalists in the same competition. More to come!! Titled "Bath Time - They love their coffee so much they bathe in it" I shot the image for the Sydney Morning Herald's "Shoot The Chef Photographic Competition", which runs in October during the Good Food Month. The subjects were Alberto and Antonio Locano of Bertoni Casalinga who serve awesome coffee and traditional home style Italian food at their cafes in Balmain, Balmoral Beach and the Sydney CBD.

I'm always on the lookout for new quirky photography subjects and art projects. If you have an idea just drop me line and we'll chat.