Hello.
I just wanted to make you all aware of some new work that I've completed on the fake cell phone market in Shenzhen, China. The work was with David Barboza and the NYT and you can see the article HERE. There are entire 6 floor markets selling fake iPhones and they even have branded phones like Gucci and LV, which don't even exist. I saw 4 different sizes of iPhones, again offering models that don't even exist. It was like existing in a parallel universe. A strange place indeed.
To add to the strangeness it was a tense place to shoot in as well. Not very camera friendly to say the least, and the word on the street was a Chinese photographer was harassed, and had his gear smashed, in this exact market about 1 month ago. I was pushed and harassed a bit when trying to get some shots and also got some mean looks as well. I suppose being a foreigner managed to save any serious harassment. That's one of the benefits of having a white face, and being over 6 feet tall helps a little too, I suppose.
On a passing note, stories like these are difficult to shoot. When you get a call from an editor looking for a story like this I think you know it won't be very visually rewarding, but stories like this are tough to shoot, and the situations you find yourself in with a camera around your neck are never advantageous, and yet at the end of the day you have to deliver something that illistrates the story; and that can be published. Never easy.
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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Well, glad I saw this post. I never knew how to classified a fake cellphones to a real one. Anyway, thanks for sharing this informative post. It really helps. Keep posting!
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