Chickens vendor

Where many of us come from, chicken consists of separate breasts, thighs or wings in nicely packaged styrofoam trays from the supermarket. In China, you pick your chicken while it's still breathing and it's prepared for you while you wait. I finally had the stomach to document the process (or at least most of it).

These images may upset some. Scroll down at your own risk or navigate away if you'd rather avoid them.

Birds - Take 2

I seem to have developed a bit of an obsession with birds lately - the caged, the chained (in the case of parrots), the free and the fake... All of them here in Shanghai for me to enjoy!

Most vibrant bird I've ever seen... and he said "hello" :)

Still wondering what the numbers on the spheres are for...

This couple had a disagreement

They were minding their bedroom business when the interloper arrived. Mr Brunette, however, played dumb...

Street market

When we live in western countries, it's easy to forget where the food that we eat comes from. But in Asia it's hard to block the images from street markets when we sit at the table. Luckily for carnivores like me, steaks and the like still appear in smallish chunks. But smaller animals are still alive when you choose them and they're prepared upon demand.

The images that follow the watermelons are rather graphic, so scroll down at your own risk.

Watermelons vendor in Hongkou

 Quails stall

The fishmonger's tools

Stereotypical shot

I know I've declared that I would never post a photo of the abominable Pearl Tower, Shanghai's most famous and painful eye sore. But turns out that I was celebrating the return of the sun to our Shanghai lives after 2 weeks of rain on the terrace of one of Shanghai's dining institutions (M on the Bund) and had my camera with me and was in a brilliant mood, and I did point my camera at the flag on the terrace, and the eye sore happened to be in the background. When I saw it on my computer screen, I liked the color contrast, the unusually blue sky, and the tiny bit of Pudong visible at the bottom of the image... So despite the Pearl Tower, I decided it was worth keeping.

This long-winded introduction is just to explain my contradiction and to admit that, for once, the eye sore didn't make me shudder.

The view from M on the Bund

Kittens

I've been following the story of these kittens whose mom has disappeared. They are in the park just down the street. I can't bring one home, but I've been bringing them milk to the park and cuddling with them. Aren't they the cutest kittens?

You can read more about their story in my 365 Project here, here and here.

Fashion

Fashion in China has many faces. Shanghai, being the most modern and westernized city, often presents interesting takes on it. The Japanese look (or the Chinese take on the Japanese look) never fails to entertain. But there are other fashion statements that often leave me speechless or at least with a smile on my face.

The sexy look for temple prayers

The tight-fitting look of the typical Asian teenager

The hot-mama look (she was picking up her kid from school)

The Japanese lolita look

The left-me-speechless look

Cars

Shanghai is the city where the affluent people live. Here, the expression "nouveau riche" is possibly more applicable than anywhere else. Today, in a short walk around my neighbourhood, I found two wheeled expressions of it. I just couldn't resist...

A Corvette turned tiger

An Aston Martin turned shiny mirror

Thankfully, some beautiful cars are not being messed with. This Audi caught my eye for the right reasons.

A bright Audi TT not tampered with

Rainy season revisited

The rainy season may have come to an abrupt end. I probably shouldn't say this too loud, but the heat in the past 3 days has felt like proper summer (which in China means no more rain). As a (hopefully) final goodbye, here's a little dash of color from a car's window from a few days before the sun returned.

Rainy season in Shanghai

Slice of life

Sometimes an image is worth so much more than a thousand words... I think this is one of those: old Shanghai's lane life in all its detailed simplicity.

A lane in the former French Concession

Wet pavement

After over two weeks of non-stop rain, yesterday was beautifully sunny. But today the rain returned... How much longer is the torture going to last!? Meanwhile, I keep getting wet pavement shots.

Have to get groceries even if it rains

Scooters don't slow down or drive sensibly even in the most inclement weather

Feathery neighbours

Chinese people love to keep birds. My own empirical evidence suggests that Shanghai has the highest caged bird:human ratio of all the places I've been to. Bird owners are extremely proud or their feathered pets and love to show them off. If they see me walking with the camera, they'll often call me over and hold the cage up to eye level, with the biggest smile. I can't help feeling bad for the birds... While loved and tended to, they're still in captivity. I'd rather hear them chirping in nearby trees than photograph them inside a cage.

My neighbour's canary

One of many pigeons kept in a lane right across the street

The new kid on the block

The devil is in the details

The most beautiful images in Shanghai are often of unimportant, nearly invisible details... A basket of walnuts and nutcrackers for sale on the street, a pair of drying shoes, even a mop! I love the colors that spring from every corner in this town.

In an old lane in Hongkou

The prettiest mop on earth

Nuts feast!

Portraits II

Today was another lucky day for portraits. I walked through the most decayed lanes in my neighbourhood as residents were eating lunch. I ran into these very friendly grandmas that were extremely amused by my interest in their daily lives. One of them, while laughing heartily, asked me for a print of the pictures I was taking, and when I promised I would she proudly held her bowl of rice for the shot.

Lunch time

Her neighbour made me sit down next to her, held my hands, laughed happily and chatted away in incomprehensible (to me) Shanghainese dialect while neighbours walked by and looked puzzled at both of us: her talking and me nodding.

Come here, sit with me!

This little girl was shopping for groceries with her mom in the lane's market. I was drawn to her angelical face. This was the first shot I got of her, when she was still shy and apprehensive. That feeling vanished after she saw herself on the screen, with her mom approving and encouraging her to smile and pose. Before I realized, there was a crowd stretching necks over my shoulder trying to see the source of all the ohs and ahs. I'm sure someone will know where to find them so I can give the mom some prints too.

China doll

Portraits

There's nothing more beautiful in photography than a B&W portrait of a meaningful face. I was lucky enough to find many of these characters when I went walking in the Hongkou neighbourhood.

My favorite is the grandma in the first shot. She is 91. She was thrilled to have her picture taken, and thanked me the old way: by bringing her hands together in the Thai "sawadee-ka" style, or as if she was praying. She was adorable.

91 and going strong

This man was Mr. Cool. He did not change his facial expression when I approached him and his friend, when I took both portraits, when I showed them on the screen, or when I thanked them and walked away. I wonder if he plays poker?

Mr. Poker-face

This little girl posed patiently until I got the right shot. She inspected each one of them with me, and we kept trying until we both smiled when we got the winning shot, and she said "hao" (good). Then she ran back excitedely to her mom and I bet she told her all about the photo shoot.

Little Empress

This man caught me trying to take a candid shot from a few meters away. He then stood up with a big grin, came over still holding his bowl, and sucked the noodles in a big noisy slurp. He then waited to see the shot before resuming his eating.

Sluuuuuurp!

Wet tiles

While the most beautiful architecture in Shanghai continues to disappear at a heartbreaking pace, there are still a few gems to be found (and photographed). For example, this tiled roof that caught the light beautifully under the rain. Amazingly, shot with my iPhone!