Just published - https://loeildelaphotographie.com/en/feng-liu-2/
ZhouZhuang
I posted the pictures below which I took at Zhouzhuang which is about 50 miles away from Shanghai. I was invited there to take photos for this water town to celebrate its 900 year anniversary. I lived in Singapore then. It happened about more than 20 years ago.
That is my first documentary project and I used Kodak Slide. A project which I was focused on to awaken our consciousness to the importance of preserving our precious history. This 900 year old small town whose surroundings were undergoing economic development and transformation, as well as dealing with the influence of foreign cultures.
I remember I was offered to stay one night at an ancient house which was several hundred years old and I slept on an ancient bed and I had to put my two feet outside of the bed. I just thought, ancient people were not as tall as today’s human beings.
Zhouzhuang is famous for its history of rich cultures and delicious food. I really miss this place. I don’t know how Zhouzhuang is today. Is it the same as when I was there?
I still smell the curry and onion when I look at these pictures which I took at Little India in Singapore about 27 years ago.
During my first visit of the Little India, I walked into the neighborhood and I saw several hundreds of people gathered at an empty place and I heard large noises all around. The people there just were talking each other. No chairs and no drinks, just talking. I was a bit scared when I first saw them, but quickly I found they were kind. No danger at all. Then I continued to walk to the street and suddenly saw hundreds of shoes piled up at the door of a building. My first thought was: were these shoes on sale or what. All of those shoes were sandals. They were piled up as high as almost 4 to 5 feet. I soon discovered that this was an Indian temple and I was told I had to take off my shoes before I was allowed to go inside of the temple. I wondered if I left my shoes with other the hundred other shoes mixed together, how I would find my own shoes when I came out from the temple. So I just carried my shoes with my camera bag. This was my first time walking into an Indian Temple to take pictures. I was very stunned and surprised at what I saw there. The colorfulness and smells were my deepest impressions.
Since then, I couldn’t stop to go to Little India to take pictures for almost a year. The original cultures were well protected over there. It was a very colorful and religious place, a hot and humid one at that. The people enjoyed their life styles. Every time I came back home from Little India, my clothes and my body carried the smells of curry and onion. I remember first time when came back home after taking pictures there, I couldn’t figure out where these smell came from. I soon found out when I smelled my clothes.
This was my very first time taking pictures at one place constantly. My very first mentoring teacher Mr.Goh Kim Hui gave me a very helpful tip: keep the picture as simple as possible in one frame. One picture, one topic, one story and no more. Yes, less is more. Since then I always use this principle for all of my pictures. It works for me.
Little India is an excellent example on how to successfully preserve a mini culture within a highly developed country. My hope is that this Little India will always maintain its traditions and uniqueness.
