Awake, and still alone, Shanghai, China, 2006 by Jennifer Zhou

Jennifer Zhou | all galleries >> Galleries >> Shanghai Story > Awake, and still alone, Shanghai, China, 2006


12-AUG-2006

Awake, and still alone, Shanghai, China, 2006

The child seen asleep in the previous image awakens to a rush of traffic beneath the overpass that is her home. She smiled at me when I put a coin in her bucket.
There are many children forced to beg like this in Shanghai. There are too many for the authorities to help in this, the wealthiest city in China.

Canon EOS 10D
1/30s f/3.5 at 16.0mm iso800 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto

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Guest		20-Apr-2007 05:02
this image is remarkable for the light and compositon... and the fact that the child is stillin shadows despite the warm light makes this seem so poignant. wonderful!

Guest		20-Nov-2006 01:12
Touching.

Phil Douglis		22-Aug-2006 05:03
****Although the bucket is not hidden in the shadow in this version of the previous image, and the bystander has departed, this one hurts just as much. In the US, we would call this child abuse. Making a child sit on the street for hours to beg for money is cruel and inhumane. It is also incongruous, painfully so. The wrought iron surroundings are elegant symbols of wealth and refinement, and the warm light suggests nostalgic beauty, yet what is happening before us is almost unbearably sad. A perfect companion to the previous image, Jen.

Kal Khogali		21-Aug-2006 16:39
Wonderful contrats and context for the last image...K

caveman_lee		21-Aug-2006 14:38
A great capture. Both lighting and composition are excellent. These images reflect the sad side of a big city like Shanghai.

Guenter Eh		21-Aug-2006 14:36
The dramatic expression of the previous pictures still in mind - this recent one is dramatic too but in an almost "romantic"and atmospheric way. Nevertheless this is only an illusion.

Guest		21-Aug-2006 13:50
Personally, I have never been to a large city where there are no beggars. I know that Shanghai still has some numbers of buildings that are in the process of disappearing and people live in them unmolested for a time....certainly all this is unorderly and spawns freewheeling natures...it is good to be able to survive on merely 15 RMB a day...but I realize that this child's parent(s) are not possibly well-adapted to urban machinery and are not doing this girl any favours to accept this occupation....hopefully this is merely an apprenticeship to something greater.

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