Ricoh GCSB Protest, Auckland, NZ (Image heavy) Feat. Ricoh GR and OMD

Chrisnmn

Veteran
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Name
Chris Leskovsek
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Disclaimer: I know social or political issues are not allowed in this forum, and this is NOT intended to express or point ANY political issues. This is for mere documentary and personal purposes. This is about the images and the story behind them, and has NOTHING to do with my personal and political beliefs. Im not intending to raise ANY political discussion just to tell you my story and share this images.
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I grabbed my new GR as I wanted to properly shoot with it and test it. So during my lunch breaks grabbed some snaps here and there, and waited to the weekend to do it more extensively. Decided that on saturday i would go to a local flea market, but then while on my way there figured it out that they were not doing it on saturdays but only on sundays because of winter. dang!. So we headed downtown to grab some lunch and wonder the streets while snapping away.

So when i was walking downtown i saw this guy wearing a Guy Fawkes mask writing down a poster on its own in the middle of the main square. hmmm interesting i thought, so i got closed to him and shoot a picture. But i decided that instead of walking away, to actually talked to him and im so glad i did.

I said, whats with that poster I said. - You're obviously not from here aye (in typical kiwi manner), he replies. Nope, im not. why?. Then he goes explaining how GCSB in charge of all communications in the country are "spying" on New Zealanders, and selling that private information to big corporations overseas. And there was this one politician called Peter Dunne that his vote could reverse this intelligence service to spy on civilians, and he voted yes. - Wow I said, thats terrible man. And he says "You should come at 2 o clock, were going to gather here and protest about this".

And so we did. we went to have some lunch with my wife and stepdaughter, and waited till 2 o clock. when we got back to that main square, there were thousands of people gathered.

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peoples kept coming an lots of posters and lots of propaganda came up. Brilliant! i thought. perfect event to try my new Ricoh and my trusty OMD. Usually in this social gatherings and protests theres a lot going on, specially on the side, were crazy characters and situations arises.

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Funny that this guy with a Guy Fawkes mask was toping up his cellphone plan in the middle of the protest.

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This guy was for me, THE character of the whole protest. He would just walk among the crowd, dressed like that, without saying anything, he would just walk around with his hands in the back and serious look. So i thought i would chase him up and grab some pictures, and so i did, then he realize im taking pictures and he stops, looks at me, and standstill. I moved around as i knew i had seconds to get my shot, and after the second shot, I realized the poster in the back, moved around and bam!, i knew i had my shot, but now this guy starts walking towards me. So i thought, well, what the heck, keep shooting a couple more, never losing eye contact, i already did. and he keeps coming to the point he is really up my face, and the only thing he says, whispering almost, is: "Kill the prime minister". And walks away.

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I was amazed how peaceful protests like this are in NZ. For me coming from Chile, every protest ends up and means: trouble and danger. Lots of fire, police shooting and stuff like that. While here people was just screaming and speaking, but with respect. And police helped along by stopping traffic and stuff... good one NZ.

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Even dogs were part of it!.

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and kids, bored, after a while.

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Lots of Anti-Capitalist and Anti-American propaganda going around.

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Until i noticed this guy in the crowd with the "Special U.S. War Correspondent" patch in his jacket. I grabbed two or three shots till i noticed the CCCP poster in the background and move my way around to get both little icons together. As i believed both of them were not the point of the whole protest.

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People just kept coming, we are talking about a couple of thousands here according to some media reports.

Lots of speakers, Green Party and Labour Party flags all over the place.

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All of the sudden i saw this guy polishing and brushing this "protester" shoes. I thought it was part of the show or something, so i grabbed this, then the guy looks up and laughs, and realizes the situation and I said, that was brilliant! thanks. Then i walk away, but he says, do you want to take a picture of this? and points this weird NZ note i havent seen.

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He then explains, that this bill was part of an old NZ table game. Apparently some "Monopoly" or something like that. You can still see his fingers with shoe polish.

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Now the crowd started moving and walking through the main street of the city. Police walked along stopping traffic making way for the protesters.

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This white truck, was leading the way, with a guy screaming different songs. Also it was fully packed with photographers jumping in and out, trying to get the "shot". Amazing how some looked armed to the bone with HUGE zoom lenses, and harnesses, so funny. Like they were on pain or something. ill post some of that later on.

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The crowd was getting louder and louder. they are pissed. more people joins the cause.

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Some skaters, are super happy to get the main avenue of the city all for their own. they just go cruising.

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And the last one to close my little story.

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Hope you guys like it. This are some personal shots, not for any newspaper or media outlet. I might do a little something with it as a personal thing. anyway, was super fun, peaceful protest, that hardly ever happens in NZ. NZ is not a country known for taking the streets, so if they did, like they did on saturday for this, its because they are really pissed.

All this photos were taken with my Ricoh GR and my Olympus OMD +P25 nothing else. So how did the Ricoh behaved in terms of AF and quickness? , well 100% on par with my OMD, and because of something else. When AF would get slow or struggle when you half press the shutter, you can just full press the shutter and automatically would use a zone focus setting. and that is brilliant. this camera is "reactionary". with its snap focus setting nothing is ever going to be faster than that. so this IS my trusty companion to my OMD. Also by using this two primes rather than zooms like i saw among all the photographers around the protest, it made me work my shots, if this angle didnt work, i moved onto another angle to make it work, if it didnt work after 3 or 4 clicks, i moved onto another photo. and so on. I think this has helped me a lot.


long post i know, if you made it to this point, well thanks for watching and reading, and hope you enjoyed it. All comments are more than welcome!. :drinks:
 
Killer set Chris....really well documented, great write-up as well, tied everything in nicely. Loved the "Kill the Prime Minister" story and shot.
The bored kid and guy displaying fake banknote are really fine shots too. But the sign of the day just has to be "Wake the sheep up NZ"

Looks like the GR and PL25 could be a great street/documentary tandem....great 'anything' tandem really, partners in crime those 2 for sure.
 
Killer set Chris....really well documented, great write-up as well, tied everything in nicely. Loved the "Kill the Prime Minister" story and shot.
The bored kid and guy displaying fake banknote are really fine shots too. But the sign of the day just has to be "Wake the sheep up NZ"

Looks like the GR and PL25 could be a great street/documentary tandem....great 'anything' tandem really, partners in crime those 2 for sure.

Thanks Joe, and yeah i agree with you. The PL25 + GR works brilliant!. And funny you mention the guy with the "wake the sheep up NZ", because the guy that explained me the poster he was doing and telling me about the protest was just him. He was making that poster when i talked to him. then i saw them in the middle of the crowd and grabbed that shot!.

Great set of photos. Loved the smoochers. Love is timeless.

Really nice work.

Thanks Larry, appreciate your words. and i agree, Love is timeless.
 
Excellent documentation and even without your narrative [though I did like your stories & links!] the photos tell their story. Well done.
 
Excellent documentation and even without your narrative [though I did like your stories & links!] the photos tell their story. Well done.
Thanks Isoterica!. I thought you asked me a question about the Ricoh? but i dont see it anymore? or am i dreaming!

Chris, mate this is top shelf work. More, more, more I say...(y)

Thanks Mark! thanks for your words. I do have some more i think. I will post them as soon as i get home tonight!.
 
Absolutely brilliant story and a beautiful set of shots
The "snap" mode in the Ricoh GR models to allow for zonal focusing is absolutely wonderful and I can see how it would be perfect in the situation you were in
I very much hope you will get further opportunities to use your cameras to such good effect
 
Absolutely brilliant story and a beautiful set of shots
The "snap" mode in the Ricoh GR models to allow for zonal focusing is absolutely wonderful and I can see how it would be perfect in the situation you were in
I very much hope you will get further opportunities to use your cameras to such good effect

Thanks man, appreciate your words and yes the Snap mode on the Ricoh is simply brilliant. It just works. A lot of this images were done with the Snap mode focus on.

Nice set of photos! Perfect for black and white photos. The shallow DOF photos worked great.

Thanks Jack!, yeah even though 28mm is wide enough and f2.8 is close enough to have little dof, still you can get some getting up close and that shows how a bigger sensor helps. Im just loving this little cam!.
 
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