Hello,
I don't get out street shooting as much as I would like to, but I found myself in Changsha a few weeks back and I had a few hours to kill so I popped out for a bit and wondered the streets.
One of the things that attracted me to China, and what eventually assisted me in making my decision to relocate here permanently, was the ambiance of street life. I loved the colors, the smells, food, the people.
There is still no greater feeling in the world then arriving in a new town, village or city; checking in at the hotel and rushing out at dusk to capture the street life. I still very much thrive on that energy and excitement.
I visited Changsha for two days in 2001 on my maiden journey to China, and needless to say the city has changed a bit since then. These days everywhere I seemed to look there are 30/40/50 story high rise buildings, Nike Stores and even a Starbucks. It's not the rough and tumble city I remembered in 2001, but I am a bit saddened with how it's all starting to look the same in China. No matter which city you are in, slowly but surely the streets are all starting to look the same, the restaurants and coffee shops are all the same, the shopping districts are all the same....
In an effort to stay on track, the image above was taken in Changsha just before I packed it in and took a cab back to the hotel. He is a Uygur man living in Changsha and he spends his nights cooking lamb kabobs and dancing to Uygur music he plays on a radio he keeps next to his Barbeque. He dances and sings to attract customers. I wasn't too confident on his sale strategy; but I leaned in for a shot, and bought a kabob all the same.
Tech Note: Image was shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 28mm f/1.8 lens, at 800 ISO.
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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Starbucks in Changsha?! Really? Where is it, I've been asking around and everyone tells me "maybe next year"
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