Vanishing beauty

The most beautiful part of Shanghai is its former French Concession, with its early XX Century architecture, its labyrinthine lanes and tiled roofs.

The saddest part of Shanghai is that all that beauty is being destroyed and replaced with inconsequential towers. What will people love about Shanghai when the entire city becomes a skyscraper jungle?

Bird's eye view

I wonder whether this is how birds see Shanghai when they fly over Xin Tian Di?

Simple pleasures

I  usually roam the streets with my camera searching for interesting things happening. But sometimes I find beauty where nothing is happening... A caged bird, a cactus by a window... Simple pleasures!

Cactus and window

Bird and shadows

Signs that summer is over

Shanghai temperatures have dropped 15 or 20°C in the past couple of days leaving everyone complaining about the cold and scrambling for closed shoes and long-sleeved tops. But the writing was on the wall... No better sign that the summer is over than the appearance of water chestnuts and hairy crabs - which I spotted in Zhujiajiao a few days ago.

Shanghai hairy crab

Water chestnuts

Naptime

There is no place like Shanghai to spot people sleeping on the street... sometimes in the most unconventional positions, if you ask me!

The neighbour's break

The junk collector's break

Late summer games

Shanghai goes dormant in the afternoon during the torrid summer. But as soon as the temperature drops, life returns in full force. This was the first Saturday when the temperature dropped below 25°C.

Mahjong in the lane

Card game under the overpass

Fashion Show

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to shoot a fashion show for Shanghai University's graduating class of fashion designers. It's taken a long time to edit the 3000+ shots, but I've finally shipped the best 500 images to the people involved. These are my favourite.

Colours!

Ah the colours of Shanghai! Nowhere as evident as in textiles and girly trinkets.

Mao, Audrey and the Kitten

It feels like it's been ages since the last post... and it has! Exactly a month. I can't remember what I've been up to all this time. Visitors, newly-arrived expats, more visitors, more new arrivals... It's all a blur, and somehow I have neglected my photography and my blog! Perhaps wishful thinking, but this image is exactly what I long for: a quiet moment all to myself, surrounded by incongruous stimuli. After a nap, I'd like to wake up with my camera, the mishmash of Shanghai's sights and no one around asking for attention.

On location

The extra reward for going out on photo shoots with friends is that I get to see myself interacting with my subjects. Thanks Chelsia for last week's documentary!

Sunday morning at the wholesale market

Thanks to my friend Chelsia, I visited Shanghai's food wholesale market on Sunday. The pace was chaotic, the colors and smells overwhelming, and the photo opportunities endless. I had a case of ADD trying to point my lens at everything at the same time. People were incredibly welcoming and friendly, gladly posing and letting me steal time from their hectic activities. This is a must-see for photographers, period.

Got watermelon?

The man on the right was tidying his clothes before the "official" portrait

Street sweeper #1

Street sweeper #2

Street sweeper #3

Shopping for fish

 Fishmongers and the largest (live) fish on stock, which went flying and landed on my feet (imagine how I smelled!)

A shopper in an inner lane's traffic jam

Lady butcher and her charming son

Life in 2D at the far side of the meat section (many if not all the vendors live on the premises)

A tired man will sleep anywhere

Mr. Cool Pyjamas stopped his scooter in front of me in the middle of chaotic traffic and asked for a photo

Lamb #1

Lamb #2

Hard-working scooter

Eyes that smile

Eyes that laugh heartily

SHMOG - Shanghai Museum of Glass

I visited this museum yesterday. I was surprised and delighted at the quality of the exhibition: spotless modern design of the space; a great balance of history/education exhibits with modern pieces; English captions along with Chinese.

It's a good 30 minutes out of the city in an otherwise unremarkable area. It will be great when the cafe opens (the nearest convenience store to get a bottle of water is a good km away). And the selection at the gift shop needs to go up several notches... But all in all, I highly recommend it!

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass"

Artwork by Steven Weinberg

Ambient light reflected through artwork (whose author I didn't note, sorry)

The Asian obsession with being fair-skinned reached the museum's bathroom

Visitors interacting with Steven Weinberg's works