kelvinzliu

[kelvinzliu]

Dōtonbori is a nightlife and entertainment area popular among locals and tourists. It’s characterized by eccentric atmosphere, neon billboards and street full of food vendors. On one cold winter night, a visitor from the past arrived in the historic city of Osaka, Japan. #monochrome #photooftheday #blacknwhite #blackandwhite #bnw #bnw_captures #osaka #dotonbori #strawhat #ronin #eastmeetswest #kl_japan2014 #igers #igphoto #travelpics #travel #streetphotography

[kelvinzliu]

Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in the vicinity of #Hakata #Japan. Onisube, one of three largest fire festivals in Japan, plays out an effort to drive away evil spirits. One team is dressed as oni(demon) while another as keigo(fighters against oni). The #onisube sets off a blazing flame in front of the shrine engulfing it in smoke while keigo puts out the flame with plank boards. #shrine #fire #smoke #flame #festival #travel #natgeotravelpic #igers #igphoto #picoftheday @lensculture #Hakata #fukuoka #goodluckcharm from #kl_japan2014 #lensculture

[kelvinzliu]

A merge of East and West is prominent in the Japanese culture. Possibly even more noticeable during New Year period when Japanese make their temple visits often donning traditional clothings such as the girls in kimono here. #Tokyo #japan #tko #igphoto #photooftheday #kimono #lollipop #pagoda #temple #newyear #eastmeetswest #igers #natgeotravelpic #travelphotography #streetphotography

[kelvinzliu]

Under the Spotlight. Being famous has its drawbacks. #louvre #sculptures #monochrome #bnw #bnw_captures #blacknwhite #blackandwhite #travelphotography #paris #france #paparazzi #centerofattention #centerpiece #igers #igphoto #photooftheday #statues #3dart

[kelvinzliu]

Reflecting on the past few years, I've hit roughly 25 countries. Not a lot by any means. But each one has opened my eyes a little bit more. Everyone of them has taught me how small, yet blessed, I am! A couple of the 25 were Asian countries. Mainly China and Japan. It's time to dive deeper into Asia! Hoping to do that with @passionpassport #PassportToAsia. Photo: Kyoto New Year's Day 2015. Biggest snowstorm in a decade. #travelphotography #natgeotravelpic #streetphotography #shintoshrine #shinto #fushimiinari #newyear #snow #snowstorm #kyoto #japan #igers #photooftheday #igphoto @lensculture

[kelvinzliu]

Evening at Sutro. #sutro #sutrobaths #silhouette #tree #sunset #landscape #igers #photooftheday #igphoto #igerssf #lastlight

[kelvinzliu]

Molyvos, Greece. Sometime ago. Afternoon off hours. Seaside stroll. #molyvos #mytilene #photooftheday #igphoto #igers #greece #island #blacknwhite #blackandwhite #monochrome #bnw #bnw_captures #cat #harbor #scooters #kl_greece

[kelvinzliu]

"The normal other side" - A typical Wednesday in Mytilene, Greece. Bikes zipping through the streets, woman running errands, another stops by the local church for a quick offering. Just a few miles outside the town are two overloaded refugee camps: Kara Tepe and Moria. Both are currently housing four times its capacity. Heaven and Hell. #kl_heavenandhell #photooftheday #igphoto #greece #kl_greece #igers #monochrome #blackandwhite #blacknwhite #bnw #bnw_captures #lesvos #church #migrantcrisis #refugees

[kelvinzliu]

"Lead your way" #trail #monochrome #bnw #bnw_captures #vsco #vscocam #blackandwhite #blacknwhite #landscape #drought #trailblazer #igers #igphoto #photooftheday

[kelvinzliu]

Morning and lambs. Molyvos of Mytilene. Greece. #kl_greece #monochrome #vsco #vscocam #bnw #bnw_captures #blacknwhite #blackandwhite #lamb #sheep #molyvos #lesbos #landscape #igers #igphoto #travel

[kelvinzliu]

From LHR->SFO. #kl_cloud #kl_greece #vsco #vscocam #monochrome #photooftheday #blacknwhite #blackandwhite #bnw #bnw_captures #clouds #aerial #igphoto #igers #aerialview

[kelvinzliu]

"Homebound". 1st stop for some fish n chips. @ #athens #monochrome #blacknwhite #blackandwhite #bnw #bnw_captures #portrait #airport #kl_greece #travel #igers #igphoto #photooftheday #candid

[kelvinzliu]

"Locomotion" - when 2 #x100s batteries doesn't last a 5hr shoot and a picture is happening. We thank Steve for putting more camera than phone in the #iphone4s #vsco #vscocam #kl_greece #athens #traffic #night #motion #locomotion #shadow #blacknwhite #blackandwhite #bnw #bnw_captures #monochrome #igers #igphoto #photooftheday #pedestrian #carlights

[kelvinzliu]

Day 4. Nov 4. Last shift. The the coldest night of the week. Dropping below 9c (48f). It felt much much colder with Molyvols being the northern part of Lesvos island next to the sea. I was feeling the chill sitting inside the ticket office wrapped up in a UNHCR blanket. These thermo puppies are warm but life was worst with migrants sleeping outside. Station was estimated with 800-950 people overflowing the tents and with many sleeping on the sidewalk sandwiched between the road and a downhill slide. At 5AM, an hour before departing for the morning bus, another 45 arrived with several women carrying babies. Sadly I left my short-handed team an hour later with quick good-byes and a load of shivering Syrians to soothe. On this island I've felt the winter chills and have seen political crap. But have also seen human warmth. I've seen bulky trained-to-kill martial arts experts caressing a baby keeping him warm. I've seen more friendly nods from locals than I can remember. So very cool to be walking the road to "work" and to have volunteer cars u-turn and offer a ride. Great vibe on this island from supportive locals and international volunteers. In some way, I can't think of a warmer island for these migrants to land. I'm in bus stop at Mytilene now typing this. I see a (French?) girl asking for tickets to Molyvovs. She had several bags each big enough to fit her in. Very encouraging. #humantrafficking #photooftheday #igers #igphoto #5am #blackandwhite #blacknwhite #bnw #bnw_captures #monochrome #molyvos #refugees #migrantcrisis

[kelvinzliu]

Day 4: Nov 3. Night shift. At 4 AM camp manager calling out that a new batch of migrants just crossed the sea. 30 seconds before falling Zzzzz. I was put in charge of women clothing... Ya... Thank God they were mostly dry and our beautiful manager took over for me. This was a large family/community with about 40 total. Picture of the group drying shoes and keeping warm near the heat blower. Amazing volunteers using their rentals to drive the migrants to OXY. Can't imagine how this will be in freezing winter and with hypothermia kicking in. The good news: less daring migrants I hope. The bad news: lot of experienced volunteers have left the island for personal reasons. Some may return but either way it looks to be a hard winter for both coasts. Much help is needed here. #vsco #vscocam #monochrome #bnw #bnw_captures #blacknwhite #blackandwhite #molyvos #migrantcrisis #refugees #greece #lesvos #kl_greece #family #dry #4am #igphoto #igers #photooftheday #humantrafficking

[kelvinzliu]

Day 3: Nov 1st. Morning shift. 7-3pm. I'm stationed at the bus stops in OXY where migrants are taken to one of the three camps in Mytilene. One Iranian asked me which country would be good for him: "Norway, Austria or Holland?" What surprises us is some (possibly most) do not know where they wish to settle. This photo was taken few days ago. Camilla, one of our volunteers, watches from our makeshift ticket tent as migrants gather clothes hung out to dry along the roadside railings. The ticket tent is the first "stop" in OXY where new arrivals gather bus tickets (hand drawn by our creative volunteers), meal ticket and information booklets in English, Arabic or Farsi. Often it is hardest to break news that the last bus has left and they have to spend another night here. On other hand, it's joyful to watch the migrants board the buses with smiles and anticipation. But that feeling is soon brushed aside when we know the refugee camps in Mytilene is in worst condition. Migrants either have higher expectations of the camps or they simply want too keep moving because each step forward is one step closer to an unknown "utopia". Today, again due to dangerous waves, few (afaik) attempted to cross the angry ocean. We were able to bus out all the non-Syrians and Syrians with 4 buses by late afternoon. I heard by evening the Moroccans were taken away as well leaving OXY empty. This is much needed for volunteers to clean up and make fixes and preparations for next group of arrivals. If winds calm down, we expect a backlog of migrant here in OXY when Greece ferries will be on strike Nov 2-4th. #vsco #vscocam #migrantcrisis #refugees #blacknwhite #blackandwhite #monochrome #bnw #bnw_captures #ticket #bus #igers #igphoto #molyvos #lesvos #photooftheday #kl_greece

[kelvinzliu]

Day 2: 3-11pm shift at OXY. Even though smugglers give out "discounts" on such windy days, traffic was drastically reduced. The price of the dinghy trip can be 2000 Euros or higher. Large number of migrants are squeezed into one dinghy or sometimes into one boat. Smugglers do not get in and instead one migrant with no sailing experience is forced at gunpoint to navigate the turbulent sea. Resulting in the many tragic incidents. The dignity and safety of the refugees are priority despite the chaos in getting the migrants out of their wet clothes and settle into tents for the night. In the photo, females are queued into a separate clothing room. #vsco #vscocam #monochrome #blacknwhite #blackandwhite #bnw #bnw_captures #refugees #migrantcrisis #molyvos #mytilene #wet