Time to Eat Bitter
Guilin, China, 2003
When I printed this negative in the darkroom, I was pleased. I can still remember how sharp the differing gray values of the reeds stood out. Looking at them made me feel as if I were touching them. Sad to say, the computer doesn’t seem to do as well. Maybe it’s me.
I still like this photo…it tells the story of these rather downcast people who harvest and sell reeds for a living. Perhaps that woman in the center is telling them that no one is buying, or the local communist boss has refused to let them sell unless they give him a cut, or there are just too many reeds for sale and the price has dropped. What ever it is, the news isn’t good. Once again, they must “eat bitter”.