On a recent trip to China I was determined to concentrate on capturing the faces of the people. The secret to great street portraits is getting over your fear of rejection. When I would walk up to someone with my camera and be very friendly, even without speaking Mandarin, my enthusiasm would usually elicit a positive response. Today I'll share street photos of women and tomorrow it's the men's turn.
Walking in the Wenshu temple neighborhood of Chengdu, I passed a beauty salon and saw this curling contraption and couldn't resist going into the shop and making friends.
They were quite amused at my interest.
Another scene I stumbled across in Wenshu was a photoshoot with this awesomely-attired woman in traditional costume. Whoa.
Two Uyghur women shopping. The largest of China's administrative regions, Xinjiang borders eight countries - Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India - and until recently its Muslim population was mostly Uyghur. Although there is much tension between the Uyghurs and the Chinese, these women were so happy that I was interested in making their portrait.
As you can imagine, there are tea shops everywhere in China, and in many cases an employee stands on the street with little cups of tea that you can sample before going on.
Mt. Emei in Sechuan province is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China. At over 10,000' on the very top is the Golden Summit Temple, standing 145' high, with a Buddha on top facing ten directions, signifying Bodhisattva's 'Ten Truths of Universal Worthiness'. It's common to see faith healers at the temple holding healing ceremonies for the pilgrims that make the arduous trip there.
"Wedding Dress Streets" are a popular part of contemporary Chinese culture. You'll be wandering around, turn a corner, and suddenly see living mannequins modeling dresses.
It's slightly unnerving.
Style is a common thread woven throughout Chinese culture, as well as good humor.
Some of the styles are quite interesting, including this popular one that features wacky
spectacle frames with no lenses.
The Silk Market in Bejing has over 1600 vendors in it, each with a small booth like this one. Totally overwhelming.
Another thing you'll see everywhere in China are photoshoots. And they are super cute!
Thanks for watching.
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Very super interesting pix :)
Thanks dabu.
Love the pictures!
Happy to hear it!
@yostopia upvoted!
nice pics!
I like the one with the girl with lens less eyeglasses the most .
Hey thanks, and yup... that style of crazy specs with no lenses is a trip. I'm a big fan of stuff like that.
I have always enjoyed when a photographer was able to capture that unscripted moment in life and turn it into a piece of high art. I love this series on the streets of China.
I have upvoted this piece, and have featured it on my hidden gems blog. Excellent article and I love the photography. I am following and looking forward to more.
@lpfaust, thanks so much. There are three more installments in this series, and I just posted the second one about men. This one has some gems in it as well. :)
Cool photos!
What a cool collection here!