Today’s shot is a scan of a slide I took ages ago on a cultural exchange trip to China:
It’s hard to believe it’s been 30 years since I took this shot — even though that’s what the calendar tells me, it feels like its only been half that long. But such is life, I suppose…
When I took this shot, travel to China was a challenge — air fare was even more expensive than it is now, and every trip took high-level diplomatic approval. I dumped my life savings (including an inheritance) into the trip, and it was worth every penny. I was there as part of a cultural exchange program of high school seniors, seeing sites in the northeastern part of China just after it was opened up to outside visitors.
Back in the day, this part of the country had been off-limits to outsiders for a variety of reasons, but primarily because of lingering hurt from the Japanese invasion that was part & parcel of the second World War. From what our guide told us, we were the first non-asians most of the people we met had ever seen. So we were as exotic to them as they were to us.
Quite a mind-opening experience for an 18-year-old from the boonies. Sadly, I’d only received my camera as a graduation gift shortly before the trip — so I’m discovering now that many of the slides have depth of focus issues. But still, an interesting slice of history.
The gent in this shot was a local photographer. He was walking one way as we were headed in the opposite direction — he gamely waited for us as our whole crowd of about a dozen teenagers took his portrait…
Get the RSS Feed
March 12th, 2009 at 16:17
I would say it sounds like it was worth the money! It sounds like the adventure of a lifetime! This is a really nice portrait shot and I like how the camera behind him is in focus.