Airports around the world
Shenyang, China
What I love about an airport is knowing I could end up anywhere in the world from there. Sometimes, on my way to my gate, I stop and read the departure monitors. I like imagining where I would travel if I weren’t heading to my current destination: “Buenos Aires would be fun; I’ve never been there. Cleveland would be like another world. Plus I could visit the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Oooooh – Singapore! I could visit Sooz and Barry. Well, maybe next year. I should go to my gate now.”
The second thing I love about an airport is watching the people. Before 9/11 kept non-passengers from going to airline gates, I used to hang out at National Airport in Washington DC and watch people walk out of those tubular disembarking hallways and into their loved ones’ arms. Or not. Sometimes people came out, looked around for someone who wasn’t there and walked out to the main terminal halls. Budding writer that I was, I wrote down descriptions of these reunions (or non-reunions) and built short story scenes around what I saw.
In the past couple months I’ve spent a lot of time in airports. Which means I’ve also taken a lot of pictures in airports: the people, the buildings, the atmosphere. Some airports are like art museums, with sculptures and paintings and light displays (I’m thinking Detroit.) Some airports are like shopping malls, with people milling about the duty-free stores, picking out chocolates and perfumes and trinkets they don’t really need (I’m thinking Seoul-Incheon and London Heathrow.) It’s all incredibly fascinating. And so I’ve decided to start a photo essay on airports. Looking at the photographs I’ve posted, it seems that right now I’m interested in the architecture and the color in airports but I don’t really have a theme or an idea where this will lead me. We’ll see.
Detroit, USA
Detroit, USA
Seoul-Incheon, South Korea
Washington DC, USA
Pink expolosion at Yemi Hanbok factory in Yanji, China
I’ve already posted several photos of the hanbok dyeing room at Yemi Hanbok in China, but here are a few more from that shoot. The wonderful window light and beautiful color hypontized me. It was like a fluorescent cotton candy machine exploded over half the room. I felt like I was in a cartoon, though in a cartoon I wouldn’t have to worry about becoming pink myself (you know, pink is not my favorite color at all). And I imagine a cartoon wouldn’t have such poor ventilation and toxic fumes. I never felt so jealous of a person wearing a gas mask. I wasn’t there to do a story on working conditions – and honestly, this factory is probably 100 times safer and cleaner and brighter than most factories in the world – but boy did I want a fan in there for this woman who dyes fabric all day, six days a week.
Dancing somewhere between Jingpohu and Yanji, China
Everyone jostled their way out of the bus and spread out in an empty dirt parking lot in the waning twilight. The bus driver cranked up a CD of dance music. I suddenly realized all the Yaemi Hanbok employees were going to dance. And this after a four-hour bus ride to Jingpohu (a national park in Heilongjiang province) that started at 4am and 10 hours spent walking and hiking and wandering and eating and playing. Even Yaemi Hanbok founder Ryu Sung-ok in her pink company t-shirt joined the dance. I thought this was some spontaneous exertion but Johanna found out the factory workers start their work day with 30 minutes of dancing whenever possible, led by the girl above wearing white. Although I’m sure something like this wouldn’t fly in the US, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Certainly, it was an interesting way to end a company picnic.
From fashion factory to farm in Yanji, China
Sometimes you start your day interviewing a Korean fashion designer in her factory and you end your day picking corn and hot peppers with her at her small farm about an hour outside the city. Johanna and I spent a full and fun day with Ryu Sung-ok but the full report will have to wait until later. I need to go to sleep because we’re getting up at 2:45 am to join Ryu and her employees on a very early picnic. We’re still not quite sure why this outing starts before sunrise. It should be interesting!
I’m speaking at Georgetown U. tonight!
The Friendship Bridge spans the Yalu River from Dandong, China, to Sinuiju, North Korea
Just a friendly reminder that I’ll be speaking at Georgetown University tonight as part of the panel “Crossing Over: A Dialogue with North Korean Defectors.” I’ll kick off the event with my photo essay on North Korean refugees adjusting to life in South Korea, a project I completed with a Fulbright grant. Hope to see you tonight!
WHEN: Thursday, April 30, 2009, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
WHERE: Georgetown University, Car Barn Building, 3520 Prospect St NW, 4th Floor Student Lounge
COST: Free!
(Above: That's me photographing while snowshoeing through a snowstorm. Picture by