My photo trip to China
Street Photography in China – Faces of Suzhou & Nanjing: Recently, at the invitation of China Tours and the tourism offices of Suzhou and Nanjing, I had the opportunity to explore several cities in eastern China. This very special trip definitely left a lasting impression on me, and I'm currently working hard on a comprehensive China guide for you. I always find encounters with locals particularly valuable when traveling, as was the case on my trip to Porto . To give you a little taste of what I experienced on my unforgettable journey, I'd like to share a short story with you.
Portrait series in China: Faces of Suzhou
I was just about to pull the trigger when the turquoise wooden door in the background suddenly opened. An older woman appeared, who was not only visible in the picture, but also immediately caught my attention. After we travel bloggers tried unsuccessfully to take photos for our blogs and Instagram against the background of us, I have to admit that we didn't stand a chance. The better model in this case was clearly the completely relaxed sitting woman. And then I dared to do something that I want to do more often from now on. I kindly asked her if I could take a picture of her. She nodded at me with a smile and when she saw her portrait, she was beaming with laughter.
"The shortest distance between two people is a smile."
Chinesische Weisheit
Street Photography in China – Faces of Suzhou & Nanjing: It was all these windows and doors that unexpectedly opened in Suzhou, giving me a small but intense glimpse into this dazzling water city. After this wonderful encounter, the idea came to me to turn it into a photo project. So I repeatedly approached people in Suzhou and took their portraits. The project was then extended to Nanjing.
In the meantime, I've also managed to get other bloggers on board, like the lovely Sarah from Fernwehsarah , who took so many wonderful portraits on her trip through Romania. We'll soon be uploading all the photos we took to Instagram under Facebookfourjourney and sharing them with you.
Why this photo project, why Facesofourjourney?
My heart has long beaten for travel photography. The cities and people of this world have so many stories to tell. A single portrait gives us a small insight into other cultures, emotions and, above all, into the diversity of this world. A country, a city or a region are not just geographical areas, they are also the people who give the places their faces and their voices. And that's what it's all about: there are no stereotypes. They only exist in our heads.
"If you're in a hurry
walk slowly.”
Chinesische Weisheit
With Facesofourjourney, I want to encourage people to approach each other again with kindness and curiosity. It's simply an invitation, and I'm happy when the people in front of my camera are also happy to see their photos. Want to join in? Then simply use the hashtag #faceof on Instagram and share your portraits with us. And now, I hope you enjoy my small portrait series from Suzhou and Nanjing. Okay, I admit it, one portrait was also taken in the beautiful water city of Zhouzhuang 😉 The cityscape there is so stunning that I couldn't stop photographing the picturesque canals and bridges.
