Mustagh Ata, the “Father of Ice Mountains,” towers nearly 25,000 ft above sea level. Further north, there is no higher mountain on earth (with the exception of its twin summit, Kongur). The Kirghiz muslims called it “Hazrat-i-Musa” and believed that white camels bore Mohammed’s body to heaven by ascending its staircase slopes. It is situated [...]
This is one of my favorite photos of all time. It was taken by a close friend of mine, Anthony Willoughby, on our expedition to Mustagh Ata, in a small town called Tashkurgan, high up on the Pamir Plateau in western China just near the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan. “Pamir” means “Roof of the World” [...]
This reminds me of the ‘peaceful’ days when we weren’t all running around staring into our Smart Phones. in China, there was no trash because there was nothing to throw away, and no packaging either. Life was simple.
The hotel complex where Nixon and Mao signed the Shanghai communique in 1972, the Jinjiang was built in the early 1900′s in the art deco style and renovated beautifully. I spent hours just walking around the room itself, as well as the hotel and ground…
A study of people outside the venerable Wing On department store on Shanghai’s Nanjing East Road – formerly named “Bubbling Well Road” during the British occupation of this quarter of the city.
I’ve just put up a new page of scans from “Old China” – that is, slides taken over 30 years ago. Here’s the link: http://www.qamera.com/places/old-china/ and here are a few photos from the “old day”…
A few short notes about scanning with the V700.
First of all, it’s a great scanner. I did the research and it’s the best flatbed scanner out there, and – according to the salesman at the Pro Photo Supply in Portland, it’s the reason why the Nikon film scanners were discontinued.
I bought it for [...]
It has to be very cold for nobody to be in the Forbidden City. It also helps if it was 30 years ago.
These folks were crowded around a window display of Japanese watches. Just normal watches.
Nanking Rd., Shanghai, 1979.
Scanned from Kodachrome 64 on an Epson V700 using Silverfast.
Continuing in my series of “old China” pictures, this one was taken in 1979 on a Sunday morning outing to the Great Wall. Suddenly our taxi coughed and sputtered. The driver simply stopped it smack dab in the middle of the highway. People came from all over not so much to help, but to gawk at the [...]
This isn’t my best picture, but it is an early one – circa 1979 or 1980. It was the first commercial billboard in Beijing – I know, because I set it up with the first-ever advertising company in China, McCann-Jardine. There were billboards before – the one before this exclaimed “We Have Friends All Over [...]
I love the internet. Got a $250 room for $55. This mansion, in the middle of the French concession of Shanghai, belonged to I.M. Pei’s father in the 1930′s and was recently converted into a boutique hotel. The only thing that was not completely 1930′s art deco was a modern toilet that did everything except [...]
The Karakorum highway crosses the backbone of Asia, connecting Chinese Turkestan and Pakistan. The Kunjerab Pass, at 15397ft, is probably the highest border crossing in the world. This shows the highway as it leaves Kashgar headed for the Pamir Plateau.
This picture was taken at about the half-way point on a train trip from Singapore to Norway, at a place called Jiayuguan （嘉峪关） in western China…
Labrang is the largest Tibetan monastery outside of Tibet proper. Located in the highlands of Xiahe, Gansu Province, just a half day’s bus ride from Lanzou.
Scanned from 35mm. Oh yea – that’s me. The one in the blue shirt.
This certainly symbolizes the western frontier of the Chinese Empire. Dunhuang, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China
High contrast to reflect the subject of the photo itself.
Those sunglasses are large enough that I can see myself in the reflection. And why did she pose for me, anyhow?
At the Forbidden City, Beijing
