14-SEP-2007
Hiding, Pingyao, China, 2007
When I first made this image, I thought of it as a generational portrait of three Pingyao women. But when I examined it more closely later, a fourth person comes into play. The woman at right carries a bottle in one hand, letting us know that her other hand can only be holding the hand of a toddler. The child is there -- we can just see one of its feet peeking out behind the woman at center. Some photographs can tell a multitude of stories. It all depends upon how we hard we look at them. In this case, a group portrait becomes a story of the street, all because of three tiny details.
16-SEP-2007
Kite seller, Summer Palace, Beijing, China, 2007
Everything in the image helps tell the story of man selling kites on the bridge over Kunming Lake in the huge park surrounding Beijing’s Summer Palace. His expression is intense – he looks skyward. We don’t see the kite he is flying, but we see another one in his hand and others just like it at his feet. We know that he is not just a recreational kite flyer – he sells these kites, and demonstration is his most effective selling tool. The kites at his feet are not for him. They are for us. We even know that he is at an imperial palace – the lion on the post behind him is the imperial symbol. Even the artwork on the kites themselves tell a story – the graceful woman emblazoned on them recalls a time when a chair carrying the Empress of China was borne across this very bridge.
30-AUG-2007
Under cover, Singapore, 2007
We dodged rain squalls all day long in Singapore. This street person is dodging them as well, using an underpass to take cover. He smokes a cigarette and reads a newspaper, waiting for the rain to cease. Actually it did stop while we were in this underpass, and a tiny glimpse of sun very briefly warmed the wall at far right. And so a story unfolds, based on the small contrast in color between the de-saturated gray world surrounding the street person, and a warmer, more hopeful place presumably just up that ramp to the outside world. Viewers may well bring differing interpretations to bear on this story, which is why I made and post-processed the image in this way. For example, what role does the newspaper play here? Is he just passing the time, waiting for the rain to end? Or does he really care enough to want to know what is going on in the world, or in his community? The symbolic significance of the concrete block that stands between him and the ramp is also at issue here. Does it symbolize the barriers that keep him in the streets? Or is he willing and able to get up and step around those barriers, seeking a better life, if he wishes? And finally, he is looking down, not up. He does not seem to notice that the rain has stopped and the sun has momentarily, at least, bathed the wall at the end of tunnel with a trace of golden light. It makes us wonder if he, and indeed, other street people, are actually willing and able to get off the street and seek a “better” kind of life?
15-SEP-2007
In the hutong, Beijing, 2007
Parts of old Beijing are laced with narrow alleyways known as hutongs. This particular hutong was crowded with cyclists and pedestrians at day's end. A child sits amidst them, lost in play. An instant after I made this photograph, his mother darted into the street and pulled him to safety. This street photograph tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and even a country. The street is the living room, the playground, the roadway, and the lifeline of the community. It is a place where people know each other – some of them have probably seen this child at play here before and assume that his mother will soon be out to get him. That’s probably why nobody even looks at him, except for a brief glance from a boy who has nearly tripped on him. It is just the way Beijing works, and much of China along with it. This may be an urban crowd, but one senses a community within it.
31-AUG-2007
Wedding photograph, Pulau Ubin, Singapore, 2007
On our walk around Ubin Island, a rural suburb just off the shore of Singapore, we visited a home that seemed to be abandoned. Its rambling, overgrown grounds resembled an outdoor attic. I found this faded, soggy wedding picture on the ground behind the house, stacked underneath a dirty plastic garbage bag. The incongruously smiling bride and its idealized background could tell a story of unrealized dreams, a failed marriage, discarded memories, or even tragic loss. I de-saturated my own image in post processing, fading the picture to make it echo the faded colors of the wedding picture, still wearing it’s ornate frame. Other framed photographs, possibly of the same people, peek out from below – reinforcing the sad story of the wedding picture and garbage bag that overwhelm them.
03-SEP-2007
Ascension, Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2007
I photographed this dual scene within the interior of the Hindu temple at the base of a shrine known as the Batu Caves. It offers symbolic food for thought as it tells its spiritual story. I divide my image with a pillar. To the left is what appears to be a reception gallery or sanctuary, lined with larger-than-life figures of Hindu deities. Their reflections shimmer on the floor below them, while fans slowly turn overhead. A stairway rises on the right side of the pillar, gradually brightening as it carries the bare feet of an abstracted worshipper up to the next level. The image becomes a tapestry of spiritual symbolism, echoing the stories that fuel religious belief.
03-SEP-2007
Toothbrush drill, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2007
Muslims make up the majority of Malaysians. Primary students in the Muslim school start the day with mandatory toothbrush drills. I watched and waited as six young girls, each with their own toothbrush, cup and faucet, diligently practiced their dental hygiene. When one of them finished and turned away from the wall, I made this image. Each child shows us different body language. The one at far left holds her skirt up with one hand while washing her brush with the other. The girl next to her uses both hands to clean the brush. The two girls in the middle of the image are still brushing vigorously but one bends over while other stands upright. The fifth student is rinsing with her cup, while the last in line turns to show the world she is first to finish. Five of the six face the wall, which abstracts them. The sixth and last is the only one we see face to face. The story is a simple one – everyone works at their own pace, and each in their own way. This story defines a process. And this is how that process works.