In February 2023, I entered a small and crowded camera shop somewhere near Avenida de Horta e Costa. My trusty camera, a small Fujifilm X30, was on the verge of finally giving up on me and I was looking for a place that could repair it.
However, something caught my eye as I perused the shop’s filled shelves – a camera that did not look like a modern digital one, but more like a Nikon FM2 film camera from the 1980s. Its body is mostly black, topped off with some silver, three large dials and the word “Nikon” engraved right on top of the 28-millimetre kit lens that it came with. It was the Nikon Zfc. And at that instant, I was smitten.
Some time would pass and I would do constant research on the camera, while also putting money aside in the hopes that I could have it in hand someday, passing by the shop an unhealthy amount of times to check if it was still on display.
Now, a few months since I first had laid eyes on it, my camera has been living in my backpack, going with me not just for work, but throughout my challenging journey of learning photography while also documenting the year 2023 that I lived and worked through. From days out with my goddaughter all the way to covering the 70th Macau Grand Prix for the first time as a photographer, my SD card is packed with memories. It has also since become my travel buddy, frequently going between Macau and Hong Kong, as well as even in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur last summer.
And so, in this edition of The Young Post, I would like to share some of those photos that I have taken since getting my camera. These are not a showcase of great photos, but more of a selection of ones that I love throughout my journey in this certainly difficult, yet rewarding hobby that we call photography.
Photos taken in Macau, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur recently. Photos: Rui Pastorin
