Here's hoping that this year has added up for you.

12/22/10

Dan Dan Mian

Dan Dan Mian from Ed's Potsticker House. It's an ok DDM, larger than most, but it can use a bit more flavor. Still, I always order this when I go there. Simple food that's good. A metaphor for life.

Fifty Years

New Road

The road in China. Miles and miles of it. The total length of highways in China will soon surpass that of the US. I wonder if there are any road shows on China TV, say the Chinese counterparts to Route 66 or Then Came Bronson. Or a bunch of young people screaming "ROAD TRIP". There has been homage paid to the motorcar in China film, my favorite being the son of a former drifting champion who delivered tofu while racing through the hills at night. His steadiness as a driver was revealed as not even a ripple of tofu could be seen as he slid around the corners.

Shadow

One shot on a camera that held only 12 shot, manual focus. None of this 8GB media card with capacity for 500 RAW images camera with 61 autofocus points - continuous AF gibberish. I took the photo and didn't think about it again until I processed the film weeks later in the US.

I spent many hours working out prints for this shot, 98% of it being burning and then more burning. It was worth it. My relatives in China often wondered what i was looking for when I walked the streets of Guangzhou. This is what I was looking for.

Friend and Family

Taishan 1991

Taishan 1991 or 1992

Must be 1991 as I didn't go to Taishan in 1992.
The significance of the road. This is the road my grandfather was on when he left his village a century ago. He never had an opportunity to return. The same with my grandmother when she left for America. She never went back to this road though she always called the village "home".

This is also the road my mother was on when she left her village in the late 1940's. She returned once in 1988 and I had the honor of being with her and her sisters on that trip. I've made the trip several times and every time I feel that one of them should be in my place. I know that I'll go back again.

Suzhou 1992

Suzhou in 1992. I haven't been back there since then but I am revisiting this image. Mamiya 6 with 50mm, don't remember what kind of film but at this point of digital, does it matter? The same perspective seen by many thousands, a garden in Suzhou.