Sunday, May 02, 2004
Gateway at the Great Wall
The beauty of China is ancient and glorious, yet everywhere you go, you can see the marks of modern life scratched onto its ancient surface. On the sides of this doorway, for example, you can see the names of various Chinese tourists who have been to that spot over the years.
Any moment now, you may also see someone walk up from the stairway just below the scene you’re trying to capture here, right into the field of view of your photograph. They know that by the time they’ve seen you, they’ve already gotten in your way, so rather than back down and wait for you to take your master photo, they just keep on coming. Sometimes it seems that there are hordes of tourists coming in waves upon waves, and you’ll never get your scenic photograph.
Drawing the lesson from missed opportunities, we often say “carpe diem” or “seize the day.” At a Chinese tourist attraction, however, armed with your camera, the most important principle is “seize the instant, or be prepared to wait an hour for another one.”
What's This?
Some things look rather alien when you see them close up. I took this photo at my friend’s house when he was so kind as to let my mom and I stay there during our travels last winter. You’ll find it in a kitchen.
Saturday, May 01, 2004
How Steep It Is
In China they have a saying that: “If you don’t make it to the Great Wall, you aren’t really a good man.” I always chuckle when I think of that because I think “wow, women really got it made!” but I have to admit that the intention of the saying is that the Great Wall is not only a great sight that you must see—it is a challenge to overcome.
You have very likely heard many things about the great wall: that it is the only man-and-woman-made thing which can be seen from space (which it isn’t, actually), that David Copperfield walked through it one night (which he obviously couldn’t have really done), and that people periodically try to soar over it in a non-aerial vehicle (sometimes with unfortunate results.)
But one thing that is very difficult to understand, even when you see pictures of the great wall, is just How-Steep-It-Is. When you take the average picture up or down the great wall, you see that it is steep indeed, but you don’t really get the proper feeling of vertigo that you have in real life, as if you’ve come to a great precipice and the wind might just push you to your death at the bottom of the stairs.
This photo tries to capture something of that feeling. It’s about the relationship of the stairs to the mountains and trees behind them. You have to imagine how looking down to the left actually feels more dangerous than peering over that edge at the needle-like trees far below.
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