We created and developed technology to connect us, little did we know how lonely it would make us…
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lonely together~ Shanghai
Tag: huang pu
A body of water can be so cooling, meditative, relaxing and allowing to moments of peace. Maybe it is part of the magic that water possesses, but even a river in the middle of a hectic city can provide a needed sanctuary. The lulling movement of the water, the twinkle of sunlight on the surface and a space to gaze at without interruptions save for the passing boats and fluttering birds. Today I walked to the Huang Pu river for my moment of ‘me time’ and my much needed reflective stillness.
Dragons have fascinated me for so many years and they still do. They come up in legends of old Europe, in the bible, in many different cultures, myths and religions and here in Asia, their representations are everywhere you look. In China the dragon (龙, lóng) is considered the embodiment of universal wisdom and is highly revered. All over Asia dragons are looked at as representatives of the primal forces of nature. So, I wonder if a creature is indeed mythological and fictional, then how does it come to appear in so many different ancient cultures at times when there was no contact between them and no swapping of fantastical sketches? In any case, they make for an incredibly intriguing research subject with a wealth of references from all over the world.
photo taken: steam near the dragon boat on the Huang Pu, Shanghai
We start our life’s journey here on Earth in such a great rush. We are born thirsty and hungry, desperate for impressions, information, absorbing life around us like a sponge. We are overspilling with incredible energy as children, growing at a miraculous speed, impatiently rushing to the promise of our adulthood. Then we get there, we feel like a mountain climber on top of the world. And as all things on the planet, we begin to go down the slope of life to the harbor of our inevitable forward journey. And on the way to the harbor, we slow down, we become pensive, we worry less, we have more time to think, to contemplate, to doze in the comfort of wistfulness. Behind us life keeps on renewing and we begin to detach ourselves from its excitements and contemplate the next leg of our journey, because no matter what we think, there is a fairness and great kindness in our very design.
photo taken: old man contemplating by the river~ Huang Pu~ Shanghai
When you do something so much, day after day, week after week, you put yourself on its frequency. It is like that with everything isn’t it? Food lovers are drawn to food, drinkers can spot a bar a mile away, smokers can find a cigarette in the most unlikely of places, flirts can sense an attractive person on the other side of the street, photographers can feel other photographers. When I meet another photographer, it is almost a sense of kinship, a similarity of things shared, experienced, sought after. A relationship with light, with color, with motion. Today on an afternoon walk down the Huang Pu river in Shanghai I met this white gloved photographer and we just smiled at each other for a few moments, took shots of each other and just giggled like children before I walked away…
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Day Seventy Nine, April 11, 2011
Shanghai saw another glorious golden sunset today with the rare clear skies and fresh air that come with such a day, so I found myself drawn to witness the last moments of the golden show. I often see young Chinese people looking with such awe at the fast emergence of their largest and most popular city as if they cannot believe how fast their country is changing right in front of their young eyes. I can only imagine the amount of pressure exerted on the young generation of Chinese from their first school day until the time they take their place as columns in the People’s Republic of the future.
photo: Young man watching the sunset on the river promenade in Pudong (literally east of the river), overlooking the bund on the Puxi (west of the river) side across the river ‘Huang Pu”.
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Day Twenty One, February 12, 2011
Today was a beautiful sunny, crisp and freezing day in Shanghai. I impulsively decided to take the ferry across the river from Pudong to Puxi (literally east of river to west of river) and took pictures from the bund looking onto Pudong skyline. It was exhilarating to say the least to witness a rare clear sunset and mix with so many people (wish I could show you the rest of the pictures, but one a day, right?)
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Day Eighteen, February 9, 2011
I love the view from our balcony
I love the river that is down the street
I love the boats that are lit in so many colors
I love the explosion of growth and energy that is Shanghai
I love the whimsical sense of this city and the innocence of its people
I love how so alien and different your culture is to mine and how you still accept me