Posts filed under 'Uncategorized'
Borders.
I’m fascinated with that political line in the sand that can separate cultures, ideologies, and people groups. Sometimes the borders make sense: large geographic features that have historically separated two people groups. Other times, as the case with Canada, it is just an arbitrary line in the earth separating an otherwise cohesive land mass and ecosystem. However, because that political line was drawn, two cultures emerge as distinct from one another. A person on one side of the ditch (shown below) might cry at the Star Spangled Banner and scenes of Rocky V and feel more entitled to personal liberty and privacy than his neighbor across the street. The neighbor quite possibly feels proud to be Canadian and is a diehard fan of Hockey Night Canada. Although the media markets overlap and border peoples might cross to the other side frequently, the hassle of crossing makes it difficult to intermix freely and thus create a hybrid, border culture.
Recently, the European Union expanded their network of countries that citizens and visitors can cross without showing an ID card. It will be interesting to see if there are long term changes now that Poles and Germans can cross the border at will.
America to the left, Canadian subdivision on the right
Looking down 0th Avenue near Surrey, BC. America to the right Canadian houses on the left.
Top Borders I would like to visit and document:
1. N. Korea/S. Korea - families split apart by decades and a heavily militarized zone. A brother may be a senior manager for a multinational firm while the other worships the head of state and works in a coal mine.
2. Poland/Germany - The border between the two has become open. I’d love to document the change that may occur between border cities over time. Will historic prejudice become entrenched or will the cultures begin to fuse in ways?
3. Scotland/England - although part of the same country, this border was bitterly fought for years. Do the people who historically lived near the border consider themselves Scottish or English?
4. Islands Dually claimed by Russia and Japan - on Google maps they have names in both Russian and Japanese… who lives there/who historically lived there?
January 14th, 2008
There are only three ways for an American to experience North Korea… two of them won’t result in imprisonment. One way is to go to Beijing to get a NK tourist visa and fly into Pyongyang. When you land, expect the complete treatment. A friendly tour guide will take you to the grand, wide boulevards and monuments while keeping an eye on what you photograph and who you talk to. Other tours exist to limited resorts and trade zones near the South Korean border.
The other is through satellite photography. OneFreeKorea posted an interesting article analyzing an alleged labor camp based on what we can see from space pieced together with interviews of ex-guards. I’m convinced. See the area for yourself.
Satellite photos are far from experiencing a place. But with the interactive features of current map websites and stand-alone programs, there is an element of feeling like you’re there. At least there’s empathy combined with imagination for what it must be like. When I hear about the lives of North Koreans consigned to brutal labor, I try to imagine what it would be like to navigate through those narrow rows of huts on my way to a shift in the coal mine. I wonder what chances they might get to run into the woods or find some other ways to escape.
In an entirely different purpose, I use photos to plan out trips or explore new areas in my own backyard. I like to get a sense of the landscape of a place before I go there so that I can do unscripted exploring. I mentally take note of how towns are laid out: where the downtown might be, how it might be possible to get to a remote area, or where a good vista might be found. My imagination of an area is never as full of an experience as actually going there, but it is one way to take yourself there.
January 13th, 2008
Hello This Place Is…readers! I’m excited to join Alexa and Seth in spreading the word about spaces…for people. (Thank you!)
I come from Bird to the North, where I have been blogging about how places are made. I believe that anyone can know when a certain place feels great and they can tell when a space is better than another; it’s time that we trust our intuition and senses!
Just so you know, a few things I love:
People-watching, of course! preferably with a well-worn seat or a just-right leaning table
Kindly offered directions when I am lost
Sharing sleds in Central Park after a big snowstorm
Curb-sitting with a coffee
Eating my way through a neighborhood by sampling all its street food
Public markets! Almost any kind
Enough about me, on to places!
–Shin-pei
January 29th, 2007