Capturing images of Beijing over the last 30 years
Again, trying to capture images of the Forbidden City would lead to hours simply walking around its exterior walls looking for great angles. My favorite locations became the northeastern and northwestern corners of the moat where the atmospheric mood would change both with seasons and time of day. Capturing the sunset beyond those walls, particularly if it was going down behind the Shenwumen or North Gate, could be stunning. Of course, to capture a shot overlooking the entire palace, it was necessary to climb the hill at Jingshan Park up to Wanchun Pavilion where other like-minded photographers would gather for that perfect shot of Ming-era grandeur spread out below. The park, particularly at weekends, proved a wonderful spot to become absorbed in local cultural aspects of the city. Large crowds would gather for community singing, play traditional instruments or practice tai chi.
Again with Beijing’s size, extensive travel usually by bus would lead me to more of the city’s outstanding architectural and historic heritage, such as the Temple of Heaven to the east of the now-restored Yongdingmen Gate. Near that temple was a song bird market, another spot to sit and take in that colorful and noisy aspect of Beijing’s local life. Indeed the city’s daily rhythm frequently caught my attention. Regularly I would just sit at a cafe quietly watching people pass by. My favorite cafe on the now busy Nanluoguxiang was the Pass By Bar. In those early days, I also headed regularly south to a small coffee shop close to the Front Gate of Qianmen, spending an hour there before disappearing into the maze of alleys between Dashilar and Liulichang. Those lanes were not grand, such as those found in the northern parts of historic Beijing, but they were once at the heart of the city’s fledgling commercial and trading activities. Later, by the early 20th century, grand colonnaded financial buildings rose there, some still in use. So many interwoven aspects of that entire area confronted me that regular visits, walking, reading and photographing proved essential. Later I would delight in escorting geographical study groups from Scotland around such narrow lanes I had encountered during my explorations. Usually the group would ask me about how I could discover such places not mentioned in any guidebooks. Simple -- I would explain that I always walked and have retained, even now, a great curiosity for what would appear to be interesting places.
