One Night In Beijing - August 8/9, 2007

Photos taken between sunset, 8/8/2007 and sunrise 8/9/2007 on a wander through Beijing. This was part of a project called "One Night in Beijing" sponsored by Immersion Guides, 'Beijing‘s leading publisher of English-language guidebooks and maps.' The purpose of the event was 'to create a composite portrait of Beijing on a single night.... to capture its aesthetic drama' one year prior to the opening of the Olympics. The goal is to publish a book of photographs from a variety of international vantages. I was one of many photographers who fanned out across the city to capture the 'qifen' of Beijing. I was assigned Tiantan at sunset, and Beijing Capitol Airport from 10PM - 1AM. From 1 AM I walked from Landao to Jianguomenwai, via Dongdaqiao, where I turned west and walked to Chaoyangmennei Nanxiaojie, turned north to Jinbao Jie, which I then followed west to Wangfujing. I knew that I wanted to be at the northwest corner of the Forbidden City for sunrise, which was the only plan I had for the night. I took a cab from Wangfujing at 4:30 and then waited for the light to come. It was, in Beijing terms, a clear and memorable sunrise, which, for those who know Beijing, is not a common event, especially in the hot, humid summer. And on this night the city delivered up a warm one, making a sleep on a bench or in a doorway or on the sidewalk, if not too hard, not a bad place to be.

Each photo title is the actual time-stamp - 090118 = August 9 at 1:18 AM. (The 'f' is for Flicker, since these are obviously low-res copies of the high-res originals.

For more see my blog:
Absurdity, Allegory and China

60 photos | 1,013 views

items are from between 08 Aug 2007 & 09 Dec 2007.