I photographed these street vendors in my last week in China, as I tried to petrify my experiences into pixels. The hustle and bustle of provincial China is definitely something I find myself missing, along with the attitude exemplified by the sweetcorn guy: he might be poor, his life might be a struggle but look at him: the ambitious light and determination in his eyes, the humour and willingness to make the best of any situation he showed as he struck a pose for the crazy laowai.
I really admired the entrepreneurial, enterprising spirit that I met with in almost everyone, and the society that encouraged such dreams by not mocking people’s dreams and the proliferation of street vendors, allowing quite impoverished people to start their own business.
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I can see from the photos and your writing to see how you miss your experience in China. This type of experience grows on us and stays with us forever. We spent three years in US, 3 years in UK and 10 years in France before settling down again in the US. Now we are in Taiwan. We miss them all.
ReplyDeleteI love these photos, Jane. I find them quite hypnotic... not sure why.
ReplyDeleteI just recently watched a Chinese film called 'Still Life' ... and the cinematography was very meditative... I sort of get the same feeling from your pics.
G+B: I'm understanding how people say China gets under your skin, even though it can drive you crazy!
ReplyDeletemsTB: It's strange and something I liked about the Shiz, that it'd be full of crazy hustle and bustle at all hours, but then there'd be a stillness to people, a watchfulness.
That's the way to tackle life - to make it by dint of determination and these vendors need plenty.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely pics.