Due to the ongoing outbreak of the coronavirus, I reluctantly decided to cancel a trip to Hanoi about a week ago and return to Shanghai to be available for assignments. Around about now, I expected to be sipping bia hai, eating pho and enjoying Vietnamese drip filter coffee in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, but that will have to wait for another time.
I did, however, manage to spend a few days shooting the fifth border (China-Vietnam) of a series on what will hopefully cover all of China’s thirteen land borders once I’m done.
I shot nine rolls over three days, all on Xpan this time, however I did flip the switch to shoot in regular 35mm framing for a couple of captures. I’d previously shot in tandem on 645 medium format, but this time I used my Pentax 645NII camera to shoot a roll of Aerochrome. I have the Xpan film scans back already and I’ll post them later. I’m still waiting on that roll of Aerochrome.
Anyway…
It’s a pretty strange time to be in China right now. Things usually take a little while to get back up to speed in Shanghai after the Chinese New Year, but it has been eerily quiet here as people stay indoors to avoid contagion.
I have picked up a few assignments since I returned, including one for German magazine Stern in Guangdong Province. I’ve made a point to almost always travel or even just leave the house with a DSLR and file what I come across to Polaris Images in New York. So far, it seems that a lot of what I’ve sent has been published in Spain through partner agencies of Polaris. Today I also saw that a pic ran in Sweden. I think my next sales report will make for interesting reading.
I am trying to take all the sensible precautions like wearing a protective mask (which is next to useless outdoors apart from that it helps prevent one from touching their face) and washing my hands as much as possible. A lot of people have left Shanghai and since my country placed a ‘Do Not Travel’ warning on China, I guess I’m uninsured. I see myself sticking around here for the immediate future though.
Here is some of my photography from my travels away from Shanghai, back to Shanghai and around Shanghai.
For more work, feel free to check out www.davetacon.com
