A slice of life

Houtong Life 3
Originally uploaded by sheilaz413.

Topic of the day: Some houtong pictures

Sunday morning, I woke up with a hang over, a victim of too many martinis and white wine from Nick's farewell and Greg's birthday party the night before. While recouping in bed, I came to the decision that I should motivate myself, in my meager state, to do something productive for the day. Two hours later, I was in a cab heading out to a section of old houtongs (traditional Beijing dwellings), located near the Lama Temple, to do some shooting.

I have uploaded the more presentable pictures onto Flickr and this is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96434059@N00/sets/72157594180266750/

After my initial meeting with Nick, I've decided to test out a different photography style - to develop a new way to look at things, if you will. Gone are the days of solely focusing on pretty portraits - these houtong pictures are much more photojournalistic in nature. While I still have a long way to go, I am fairly happy with the pictures from this shoot, considering it was one of the first times I did something like it.

I only spent about an hour in the houtongs - far from adequate. I will plan to venture out there some more in the future and maybe add to this pool. But until then, here's a glimpse at a quickly disappearing aspect of Beijing culture!