Xiang Sha Wan - 2011

Return to China

It's not often one is invited to inner-Mongolia in the dead of winter. Okay, it's never. Except this once. How could I not go?

The invitation came from Yan Li, the energetic champion of photography who invited me last year to participate with some 130 other Westerners in the huge photo festival in Lishui, China. It was a wonderful experience and opportunity to visit, meet some wonderful people, and of course, photograph.
 

   

There were several days of photography for the group, plus I stayed a few extra days on my own.

   

   

Not surprisingly, as often is the case when a photographer travels to foreign countries, it's all so, well, new. It was exciting. It was fun. It was exotic.

   

   

So, with this new invitation from Yan Li, I'm preparing to return to China. This time the photo event is in Xiang Sha Wan in inner-Mongolia, 350 miles west and north of Beijing. I depart on December 27 for the two-week adventure.

I wish last year I had taken the time to share the experience with a larger circle of friends. I should have. Blogging from the road is such an ideal way to stay in touch in real time, I've decided to do so this year, starting with this first post as the planning begins in earnest.

While on the road, there'll be images to share, audio, maybe even some videos. And certainly I'll learn a few things along the way that will be worth sharing. So, preparations begin — as does this informal journal/diary/blog/gathering of random thoughts about photography on the road. Inner-Mongolia in the dead of winter — as one of my traveling companions said, "The dream of a lifetime come true." Perhaps, but first, I'm off to Cabela's for some warmer clothes.

The Event

Xiang Sha Wan has an art palace. Well, according to Yan Li it's actually — and I quote — "a big yurt." A really big yurt. She reports that the Xiang Sha Wan Art Palace yurt measures 100 meters long and 30 meters high. Clearly, the term "yurt" must be more all-encompassing than I think. To me, the term yurt brings to mind a tent with yak skins. I'm obviously naïve and ill informed.

The photo event will comprise of some 250-350 Chinese photographers, but I'm not sure how many of these will be exhibiting work. A dozen or so photographers from the United States have been invited to exhibit. We are the "international" component.

The theme of the exhibit is "landscape" — very loosely interpreted. As I learn more about the participants, I'll add information in future posts. For now, here's what I do know.

Yan asked me to arrange for a couple of photographers to exhibit and attend. I've invited two LensWork alumni, both of whom do landscape work. They are David Grant Best and Joe Lipka. David's mountain work was included in the Lishui exhibit last year, but he was unable to attend the event.

Joe will be exhibiting his work from Hell's Half Acre (below), an odd spot of strange desert near Casper, Wyoming.

   

 

This year, David will be exhibiting a wide range of work from the America West (below).

   

 

I'll also be exhibiting some work from my landscapes, too. My work is tentatively titled The Intimate Landscape and will focus on a closer view than either David or Joe's work.

   

The Place

I love maps. They are so inviting. Here is one of the region that I found in the Internet.

Xiang Sha Wan is in the lower left corner. It's about 90 minutes by car from the town of Baotou, indicated by the red numeral 1 on the map. Baotou is 2 hours by plane from Beijing.

I confess, I've never heard of Baotou, but I'd bet big money the people of Baotou have never heard of Anacortes, Washington either. Baotou has a little over 2 million people whereas Anacortes has about 15,000. We have two Starbucks here, so I'm hoping . . .

The Weather

Inner Mongolia in winter. I have no idea what to expect, but "chilly" seems a reasonable guess. I've seen reports that the average high temperature for that time of year is 20-degrees F, somewhere in the -5 to -7 Celsius range. That's the highs.

Good news — Cabela's has launched their big holiday sale! I am grateful and plan to show them my gratitude with enthusiasm. I've ordered — and I am not kidding here — a goose-down baseball cap with ear flaps. Just in case there is a winter league and they need a shortstop.

Last year, I took a down vest and lived in it. That was in the south, in mid-November. I learned to love goose down insulation. I am smiling here because I am warm and comfortable. Honest.

   

I need to call Michael Reichmann and ask him about his cold weather experiences in Antarctica. I wonder which is colder, Antarctica in summer or Mongolia in winter?

Equipment

Last year in Lishui was my first time in Asia with a laptop. The previous trip to Japan (1993), we used fax machines to keep in touch back home. I am that old.

In Lishui, my ASUS netbook was a Godsend. I was able to Skype back home and keep in touch with the office, with the family, and with Maureen. A few minutes here and there kept me feeling in touch and, strangely, safer — even though I was half a globe away from home.

I've been trying to think through whether I should take my ASUS netbook again, or if I should take my iPad. I've discussed the pros and cons in my technology blog. A new wrinkle has emerged that might be an even better answer — a Sony Vaio X laptop (really a netbook) that is as lightweight as the iPad but is a fully capable Windows computer.

I'm obsessing about this. Partly it's that I really to need to be in touch with the office — obligations with that pesky little magazine we publish every sixty days. Partly it is that I need to be productive, even when I'm on the road. Mostly it's that so much of my creative process in both photography and other areas is computer based. I can no more imagine a trip like this without a computer than I can without a camera or an audio recorder. Who'd have thought? I was a view camera guy for so many years. It's what I used in 1990 in Japan, here at a temple in Odate, Akita-ken. (When was the last time you used a mechanical cable release?)

Sometimes I miss the simplicity of that old Arca Swiss monorail and my official shooting vest (literally) complete with gun-rest padded shoulder. The contents of the vertical pockets under my right elbow are not shotgun shells. Each holds two rolls of 120 film. Sometimes we photographers pilfer the best ideas from other disciplines.

And then there's my youth — ah, now that's something I really do miss.

You really old-timers might recognize that dark patch just to the left of the tripod column. Yes, you can just see the edge of a Fred Picker Zone VI Viewing Filter. RIP, Fred.

I do not miss that plaid shirt nor the turtle frame glasses.

Cameras

Speaking of Japan in 1990, on that trip of three weeks duration I carried 200 rolls of 120 film for the Arca Swiss, enough for 1,600 exposures. I had no idea what to expect, so I went loaded to the gills. I returned with half of it unexposed. Three weeks, 800 exposures. To date, it was the most productive trip of my life.

   

Last year in Lishui, in 6 days of photography I made just over 5,000 exposures. Who says you get slower as you age? Phooey.

Repeating last year's trip, I'll take my Panasonic G-1 as my primary camera. Yes, it's been a whole year and I still have the same camera. I know, I'm doggin' it.

But, I like this camera. In fact, I have two, took both of them last year, and may do the same this year. It's really nice to have two cameras so I don't have to change lenses so often in the field and so I don't get snookered if one of them should break down unexpectedly. I may take the GF-1 this year, too. I'll have 88GB worth of cards, a 500GB Western Digital backup drive and whatever storage in whatever computer I take. I'll be able to take 20,000 exposures should I need them. I hope to come back with a dozen good photographs and, if I'm lucky, one great one. Such are the odds in photography.

   

Here you can see my Panasonic G-1 on the Manfrotto monopod. Posing here in Lishui last year with our lovely translator/volunteers. I'm the idiot in the middle with his eyes closed.

Media

I've been proposing for some time now that we still photographers need to pay more attention to the possibilities of media as a supplement to our work. Last year in Japan, I took a break from still photography to record this simple video in Rikuzen Tomiyama.

   

   

I've had a lot of feedback from all quarters how much people enjoyed this humble production. I continue to experiment with the idea I had years ago I called "The 90-second Gallery" — short videos to present still images with audio. I've made a couple of them you can see on my website here and here. I wish I'd done more of these in Asia last year. I'm looking forward to trying it again in Xiang Sha Wan next month.

I love the idea of simple videos like these. Almost purposely unprofessional. More like sketches than "films." I know they'd be more popular with Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson, but I don't know their emails. You'll have to do with me and whatever inner-Mongolia has to offer.

I'll Be Traveling with a Redhead

No, Maureen need not worry. The redhead to which I refer is a Redhead Windscreen.

If you watched the Rikuzen Tomiyama video, you undoubtedly heard the amateurish wind noise captured by the mini microphone on the digital camera. We live, we learn. I now own one of these very funny looking but great wind screens filter for my Zoom H2. I'm not sure if the Zoom H2 will be going with me, so I had them custom make one for my Olympus DM-520, too. They work amazingly well, even in a stiff wind.

For you audio obsessives, here is a sample audio test with and without the windscreen on my Zoom H2.

Redhead Windscreen test

The Chinese People

Last year — at least at first — I had a very odd time with the Chinese people. The first day out walking around I felt very intimidated. They stared at me relentlessly. Direct, emotionless, lingering, penetrating stares. It sort of gave me the willies and I was immediately put off photographing them.

I was so wrong. I learned that the Chinese people do not at all have the same social norm that implies staring is impolite. It simply seems normal to them. Okay, I can adapt.

But then, I learned an even greater lesson. They were very hesitant to "break the ice" by speaking to me first. I don't know if this is a Chinese custom, a regional custom, or simply a way they deal with foreigners. Regardless, I quickly learned to be bold in initiating contact. I'd walk right up to them, "Ni hao!" [Hello] and reach out to shake their hand. Immediately, BIG SMILES, lots of hand shaking, "Herro, herro!" and we were off. After learning how to break the ice this way, the people I met were universally fun, welcoming, gracious, generous, and helpful. They invited me into their homes to photograph, offered me food and drink, and were very willing to pose and allow me access to make pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll be very interested to see if I receive the same reactions up north.

Exhibition images

This morning we've updated my website to include all thirty images that will be in the exhibit in Xiang Sha Wan.

I've also described the process of making these images with the textured background and text in my technology blog.