MAHFUZ Jaffar is a familiar name in the local street photography scene. After retiring early as a certified system engineer at 40, Mahfuz has been pursuing his interest in photography full-time.
He has been taking photographs since 2000 when he bought his first analogue camera.
“I had never thought of becoming a photographer nor did I attend any formal photography class. But deep inside, I really wanted to document and share the faces and lives of ordinary people,” he says.
The self-taught photographer uses an artistic documentary style in his photographs, which are all in black and white.
“Through my photographs, I want viewers to appreciate the life of others,” says Mahfuz.
CAPTURING LIFE
When he’s in the street, Mahfuz will try to capture the mundane lives of ordinary people as he feels this will give “human interest” photographs, stories of people working and going about their daily activities.
“The best place to go and do this is where there are many people such as at wet markets, shops, beaches, parks, events or festivals but sometimes I go to back streets and alleys,” he says.
Every single photograph has its own story but to tell the story or stories with a single photograph is not an easy task.
“Perhaps, if you shoot a photo of a person, the photograph may tell you about his life and his feelings,” says Mahfuz.
As a photographer, he says our country has very unique people, unique character, culture and way of life.
Mahfuz prefers to capture candid situations. “It simply gives the best moments of the subject,” he explains.
When he shoots, he will try to maintain the background of the location as this will add more value to the photographs.
For his street outing, Mahfuz uses the point and shoot Fujifilm x100s with the fixed 23mm lens. Although he has a dSLR and film camera, he considers these too bulky for street photography.
While he says there are no bad photographs, he believes what makes a good photograph is good exposure, composition and less processing.
“More importantly, these photographs must tell a story,” he says.
Mahfuz’s photographs can be viewed at Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/myjumpstreet and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mahfuz.jaffar