Tuesday, May 13, 2008

visiting the golden gate bridge



I found these images I shot in art school a while back. I was doing a project on the golden gate bridge and the magnetic effect it has on people. What is it about having your picture taken somewhere that deepens your experience of that place? Is it a confirmation that you were there, or an affirmation of a life well lived?

If you don't record the experience with a photograph, and then forget about it, did it really even happen?

Beijing World Park




People in China don't really travel, mostly because it's difficult for them to get visas to go abroad. Many of the people we met had never been outside their home provinces. It's hard to imagine living in Beijing, and not ever going to Shanghai, let alone the next closest city, a short drive away.

China's answer to this is the Beijing World Park. A place where you can travel the world in just a few hours. Miniature replicas of all the top tourist destinations of the world, crammed into a theme park complete with little electric cars to get around in.

I was totally entertained and terrified by this place. Do these crappy replicas, with their shoddy construction and puny scale shape the way that the Chinese view the rest of the world?