Photoblog

Our first interaction with rural Gunagxi was an afternoon in a small village were we photographed a buffalo farmer. The village was just in the middle of rice harvesting and the roads were covered by freshly collected rice, drying out in the sun. We were surprised to see people, animals and cars walking and riding over the rice. Everybody was happy, collecting the food that will help them to survive during winter. A collective effort that will end up with many bags of rice in the village granary. It was a hot afternoon, with clear sky over the surrounding karst mountains. Our models were waiting for us, by the road. The female buffalo was still covered with a thick layer of mud; she was a bit annoyed that her afternoon siesta in the swamp was interrupted. The owner, a stocky man was dragging her by a rope. The rope, passed through the nose of the buffalo, gives the mean of control to the farmer over the strong animal. For the next hour, the farm...

  Some of the best photographic opportunities come unexpectedly. After a brilliant sunrise at XiangGong Hill, the guide asked us if we mind an hour break in a small village close by. Him and the driver were willing to have a breakfast and he offered us to either joined them or have a walk in the local farmers market. Being Sunday people were gathered from surroundings to sell all kind of merchandise, fruits, vegetables, meat, live animals and various snacks. We decided right away to use this opportunity to explore something that we could not have a chance otherwise; normally a farmers market in a touristic brochure is a place crowded with tourists, selling overpriced merchandise, together with souvenirs. So seing a genuine local farmers market seemed like a great opportunity. The guide told us that people might get annoyed by us taking their pictures; and that we should take good care of our belongings. We experiences the local ‘dangers’ few minutes later: a totally ...