Monthly Archives: August 2016
124. NEW YORK ON FOOT. The Bronx. Change a few details in this photo and it could be the main street of any small town in North America–the Bronx probably is the biggest small town in the world. The other thing about the Bronx, like the other “outer boroughs”, is that the lowrise buildings showcase the sky for a sky-hungry midtown Manhattanite–in this case that unmistakably lazy, late August light. The photo is flawed due to a tardy shutter and overexposure, but the color rhymes make up for it.
123. PASSAGES. Singapore. A chance meeting with this city state left me enthralled, probably because it is so unique that it doesn’t fit into the ready-made patterns that one begins to see everywhere after years of travel. One of the most interesting things about Singapore is their “national core value” of meritocracy, a policy that aims to reward the “hardworking and deserving” with upward social mobility regardless of the stratum into which one is born. My gut feeling on the street there was that they were among the most cheerful people I have ever spent time with, and their hospitality toward strangers was remarkable. Interesting place.
122. TRAVELS IN INDIA. New Delhi. The semi wild dogs that roam the streets of India are an endless source of amusement for me. I’m not sure what it says about the Indian personality that they think nothing of having untamed dogs live among them, but it is another reason why the country is uniquely beautiful. There is something about the Indian conception of freedom that we could learn from. When left alone to organize themselves, dogs are enormously funny. My favorite move from Indian dogs is when they suddenly drop to the ground, curl up and go to sleep on a street choked with humans, cows, buses, cars, horses, etc. The best part is that people just step around them, as if to say “how perfectly natural for a dog to take a nap on a sidewalk crowded with a thousand people.” There is now a “modernization” movement to eradicate the dogs, which for me would be a huge loss.
121. TRAVELS IN INDIA. Mumbai. A market street in Kamathipura. The industriousness of Indians is astonishing, everywhere in the country I observed their physical courage and toughness. One local told me that “the majority of Indian people are over-exercised and underfed”. Watching how they move and work and look makes me wonder if we in the West couldn’t use more of both.