Mimo Khair Creative

Tonight, I’m sharing a photograph I took in Songjiang, China, at a place that fascinated me deeply while I was living in Shanghai. Songjiang is home to an old film set, designed like neighborhoods from earlier times, where they used to film historical and war movies, complete with Japanese and Chinese costumes. What made it special was the openness of the place—you could just walk right in, wander through the streets, talk to the actors, and immerse yourself fully in the atmosphere they were creating. It was magical and felt like stepping straight into another era.

The people there added to the beauty of the experience: friendly, welcoming, and full of life between their takes. I chose this particular photo from my 2013 archives because it reflects something I was deeply exploring at that time—blur. I notice now, as I look back, how much I experimented with blur that year. This image stood out to me today because it struck just the right balance, creating a surreal yet dramatic feeling that brings back that day’s atmosphere perfectly.

One of the biggest challenges as a photographer is capturing not just what you see, but what you feel in a moment. So often, the photograph falls short of the memory, of the atmosphere you experienced. But this photo feels different—it holds that feeling, that essence. The blur here doesn’t detract but instead enhances the mood, making the image feel alive and true to the moment.

Sometimes, blur is exactly the tool we need to bridge the gap between what we see and what we sense.