“Good wood is always a good buy”
“I’ve been tearing down homes around this area a long time,” the shopkeeper picked at his shirt and flicked off lint with a long, yellowish pinkie fingernail. “You…
Street Stories
Where is the respect?
“You can’t shoot here!” she yelped as she saw me setting up my tripod. Wrapped in a glossy pink jacket, the child was a little over 10…
Welcome to Shanghai Street Stories 2.0
Rewind a couple of months back, I was distraight to discover that a server update had disrupted my template, wiped out all my photographs and basically undone years…
Milestones
I’m not one for marking anniversaries, personal or otherwise, not for any principled reason but mainly out of sheer forgetfulness. Perhaps this is why I find it easier…
Toiling in the heatwave: whither thy subsidy?
His world was a three-block radius. Each day before the sun rose, he would wake from his dormitory bed which creaked from rusty springs. The mattress was thin…
The Chinese tourist in Shanghai
“Come on a cruise on the Huangpu River! Buy your tickets here!” a pimply teenager in a sweat-soaked vest droned loudly into the bustling crowd, “Our deals offer…
Scribbling on street photography
For those in mainland China, I trust you had a pleasant break over the absurdly arranged Dragonboat Festival holiday (we got Monday to Wednesday off after a 7…
The worker’s ferry across the Huangpu
The weekend was mostly gloomy and wet though offering a comforting blanket for a restful two days best enjoyed with a quiet cup of tea and movie du jour. But for…
Little Bun: Superhero
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Trapped in a bustling mall at the worst possible time – lunch, I was in line at a restaurant when I spotted Captain…
An encounter with laundry … and a wall
It’s odd to see the screaming pronouncements “WASH! IRON!” through a sea of laundry along a busy alley. Sunday afternoon meant residents were out in the streets, and hanging every piece of…