吉姆 JIM HOFMAN | Photography Faces & places in China
Kids
Shanghai I
Shanghai is huge. REALLY huge (23 million people). It’s ten times the size of Chicago. And this week is was hot. REALLY hot. There were lots of umbrellas on the streets to make-your-own-shade.
Nanjing
I just spent a couple days in Nanjing, which is a few hours west of Shanghai. It was my first trip there. I always seem to visit the same manufacturing hubs in China and it was nice to go somewhere new.
Yangjiang Traffic & Streets
Yangjiang a beautiful city on the southern coast of China, just below Macau. This place is the “knife capital of the world”. I’m here working on some product development projects with the knife factories, but have found time to wander the back streets to take some shots.
Market Sights
Sights from a couple market places in China (Qingxi + Yangjiang). I love to photograph these places. Lots of interesting sensory inputs: sights, sounds, smells, people, activities.
Sunday in the Park
While I was waiting for a late afternoon meeting with a factory representative I decided to kill some time at a local park in ChangAn. I sat at various benches for about 3 hours taking photos and meeting people.
Urban Micro-Farming
Farming in China is like the period after the US civil war, when the excess labor pool created by emancipation proclamation resulted in each ex-slave getting a mule and 40 acres to farm. The only difference is Chinese farmers don’t get the mule (and fewer acres).
Under the Big Top
This circus’s “big top” was scaled down to village size, with about 8 guys acting as ringmaster, acrobats, clowns, animal handlers, ticket takers, poop scooper, etc.
Saturday Afternoon in the Village
I took these shots on a cool January afternoon on the weekend before the Chinese New Year holiday began. The overcast weather produced some nice flat outdoor lighting. The lighting in the meat market was a different story.
Chinese Daycare RANT
I was riding my bike around our village early on Saturday morning and rounded the corner in a new technology park and found a 3 year old girl sleeping on the sidewalk.
China Village Night Life – 11.15.11
Another night of prowling the village for some interesting shots. I used a fast F1.8 lens + high ISO to turn night into day.
Beijing – Tiananmen Square
If St. Mark’s Square is the “Living Room” of Venice, then Tienanmen Square is the living room of Beijing. Security is very tight, as evidenced by the hundreds of surveillance camera and dozens of police men & soldiers.
Beijing – Olympic Park
Beautiful architecture that’s still timeless. The care-and-feeding of the buildings could be improved to prolong their life span. The crowds are gone and now the Olympic Park is a curiosity for a few visitors.
Village Nightlife
I went prowling around the village last night with a fast 35mm f1.8 lens to test the low light capabilities of the D3100. Not bad. Some of these shots look like they were taken in the middle of the day because of the amount of lighting in the village and the fast lens.
Ping Pong & Lunch
After spending thousands of hours playing ping pong as a youth I decided to test my rusty skills with some friends here in China. Because it’s one of the national pastimes most people tend to be pretty good. Unfortunately I was not. I got smoked by the “number one lady player” at our factory – along with everyone else.. We had a nice Sunday afternoon reunion lunch before playing.
Uighur Family Portrait
Today while eating lunch, the wife of the restaurant owner (not an English speaker) used “charades” to ask me if I would photograph her daughter. Of course this was a great honor for me, so I came back with my camera gear and started shooting away.
Toys-R-Us
This is the toy lady. She sets up a table at the local open-air market and the kids swarm around her like bees.
Layered Look
It was cold that day and I think this little guy is layered with his whole wardrobe. He stopped and posed while I was taking shots of his little brother.
At the meat shop
Shopping with Mom, the pig tails were great. She’s standing on the back of Mom’s bike while Mom is texting. At least she stopped riding the bike…
Alpha Male
Pinstripes at that age? The only nearby playground is a pile of construction debris. Boys find fun in stuff like that.
Lego Boy
Lego is a boy toy everywhere on the planet. This little dude is always playing outside the barber shop I go to in China. His grandmother watches both him and the son of the barber.
Street BBQ Girl
This little girl was playing cards on the street near our table at the street BBQ in Qingxi. I took quite a few shots but this was the best.
