I am usually pretty busy during the weekdays, so the weekends are my time to hobby. I find myself wondering: where can I go to take pictures? Where is an interesting and photogenic place I can venture to so I can practice using my awesome new camera?
Today, though, this thought would not stop nagging at me: I live in Taiwan. I blog about my life in Taiwan so five years, ten years, twenty years down the road I can look back and feel connected to this monumentally life altering experience, and the truth is that regardless of where you live, not every location is cool or photogenic or beautiful, but that doesn't mean those places aren't picture worthy. They are because despite the fact they may be humdrum, they are real and interesting, and bursting with life, and they deserve to be remembered all the same.
So in that spirit, I spent a good portion of my Saturday afternoon wandering through my neighborhood and fiddling with my camera and receiving a fair share of inquisitive looks from locals wondering what on earth I found so noteworthy about the buildings and doors and scooters.
Here it is-- my little corner of Taiwan-- in all of its ordinary glory:
So this is it. It's kind of worn down. It's not much to look at, but these are the streets where my life happens, and these are the non distinct places I will want to remember just as much as the famous temples and markets and attractions.
These are the streets I walk down nightly holding hands with Sean. These are the streets I scoot down when I have run out of bread, and I need some from the mart down the street for the dinner that is cooking in the toaster oven. These are the streets where I have conversations in broken English with locals who want to know what I think of their country [or if I am lost].
These places have come to mean something to me.
I love your posts! Great idea.
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
DeleteGreat photos! This has inspired me to get out and photograph my own neighborhood. Sometimes we don't realize that the best photos are right in front of us. :)
ReplyDeleteMy next mission will be to photograph the people in the neighborhood. That will require some courage as I only know how to say "hello" in Chinese.
DeleteThe way you capture your neighborhood is really beautiful! It is worn, but not in a negative way.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I find that I can see things in a new light through the lens of my camera.
DeleteI love this idea and I'm going to steal it and take my husband for a walk around our neighbourhood tonight. It's too dangerous for us to walk with expensive equipment here though, so I'll just be snapping with my camera phone. You're right about recording those ordinary aspects to your life in Taiwan - those are some of the most special.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have fun! I know I take for granted that Taiwan is one of the safest countries in the world!
DeleteI love the neighborhood scenes. Beautiful photographs!
ReplyDeleteThanks!! I had a lot of fun taking these photos and ran into a lot of curious and super friendly locals.
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