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Tim May | all galleries >> :Asian Journeys:: A Collection of Galleries :: >> A COLLECTION OF GALLERIES::China -September 2007 >> GALLERY:: Impressions of Beijing, China - September, 2007 > Singing in the Rain -Temple of Heaven-
Beijing, China September 2007
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18-SEP-2007

Singing in the Rain -Temple of Heaven-
Beijing, China September 2007


Throughout our journey in the big cities we found people using the parks and shrines. I ran into two groups of musicians in the Temple of Heaven. It appeared as if they were just singing for the joy of it, as a hobby.

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Phil Douglis10-Mar-2008 00:12
You remind me here of a corporate magazine editor I once knew who used to give the photographers he hired a checklist of pictures he wanted the photographer to "take." In other words, he had a preconceived idea of what pictures the article would include. I also knew one of the photographers he hired. He always used to shoot the "scripted" images as his client demanded, but he would also shoot what he discovered in the process of making them. Invariably, the editor would use the pictures the photographer discovered. Yet he continued to give out that checklist. His shooting script was the refuge of a literal mind. Fortunately, he had the good sense to hire a photographer who was smart enough to ignore the literal subjects, and instead make images that expressed ideas instead of describing appearances.
Tim May09-Mar-2008 22:03
In the UK and Ireland the pubs often function as the living rooms for the people. I felt very much as if the parks and shines of China filled that need. One of my frustrations as we travel is the struggle to understand. I would have loved to ask these people what they were up to. But, as Dorthea Lang in quoted as saying in "The Ongoing Moment:" ... to know ahead of time what you're looking for means you're then only photographing your own preconceptions, which is very limiting." Thus, the reason we keep taking out camera out into the world.
Phil Douglis09-Mar-2008 20:46
This is one of the most revealing images you made in China, Tim. Perhaps these people are members of a chorus, getting in one last rehearsal before their performance on the other side of that door. They are obviously singing from scripted music. But as you say, there is an element of sheer expression here, too -- it is almost as if they have put down their umbrellas and spontaneously gathered under that ancient door to sing together. There is a lot of tradition in this image -- cultural, historical, and recreational.