It is just after dawn. The morning flood of tourists has yet to descend en masse on Lijiang's Old Town. Yet this man is already making his deliveries to one of its many restaurants. At this hour, the town is at its most genuine. What we see is the workings of a town, not the commercial facade created to draw tourists. It is a quiet, almost private time of day here. I made this image to speak of that quiet. He seems to tip toe through the door, with his handcart by his side. He is backlighted. The golden light brushes his hat, the doorframe, boxes, and floor. All else is dark. To prevent my camera from trying to “expose” this image “properly” by “balancing light and dark into gray” I use a spot meter. I meter only on the bright door panel, exposing it perfectly. Almost everything else in the image falls into abstract shadow.