By: XEONIQ [ Instagram | Tumblr ]
Guizhou is China’s poorest province. I visited one of its smaller towns, Puding, and the capital, Guiyang. Despite its relative lack of affluence, Guizhou had the same ultra-modernised high speed railway and subway systems the rest of China has and was surprisingly clean. It seemed in Puding that most of the residents were either elderly or children, with their working aged family members away in bigger cities earning for the family. The cost of living is extremely cheap there, with entire houses advertised for sale around $USD50,000 and lunches available for as low as 2RMB (30 cents in USD).
I’ve spent the last three years exploring more of China, accumulating a large number of photos. I’ve taken these with my Sony a7M3, a capable digital camera that I’ve owned since it came out. I used 4-frame exposure stacking to maximise dynamic range for a more graphic quality to the images. While there is not much theme to this set, I thought for those interested in the country, this small snapshot of an area that isn’t as hyped as a tourist destination might be engaging for those who enjoy travel photography.
A Syd Mead inspired shot. Guiyang at night is extremely vibrant with its copious public and private lighting installs that seemingly run all night long.
Always nice to have such a photogenic partner on these trips.
A small police box, common throughout China in busy night-operating tourism and retail areas.
LED-lit glass elevator shafts are always appreciated for low light photography.
A night market haphazardly run by a swarm of mobile stands running in Guiyang parallel to its main street.
When in need of a subject to photography, CCTV’s make for a convenient and perhaps deserving option.
Guiyang had copious overhead pedestrian walkways, providing a nice perspective for urban shots.
A butchery market in Puding; extremely warm and the male vendors were all topless. My favourite shot from the trip.
During the day I explored Puding, a smaller town in the province, and the surrounding countryside. The view from my very affordable hotel room. The beautiful limestone hills that pepper through this part of the country remain its defining feature for me.
This construction site and project looked to have been halted if not abandoned for quite some time.
The brown stone-like texture of these residential buildings in Guiyang was a good aesthetic balance for all the greenery laced throughout the city.
The scale of the hole in this mountain was very impressive driving through it.
A typical architecture style for Chinese commercial buildings built 10-20 years ago.
A waterway running through Puding. I found this town quite pleasant and the people reserved but polite.
There is a lot of unmaintained organic growth in and around Puding. I find it more aesthetically pleasing than overly manicured and shaped gardens and hedges for the most part.
Large scale Chinese logistics never cease to impress me. The sheer volumes that they are able to transport day and night around the country are staggering.
Taken just as I was leaving, the exposure stacking created a miniature-like diorama effect from my vantage point. Guizhou’s signature hills surrounding the airport is a beautiful way to first greet, and then farewell the province.
If you liked the images in this set, you can see more of my photography on my Tumblr or Instagram.