Travel Writers: Alex's Flickr

Alex's Flickr Account:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexrudd/

Alex works for UOP and travels just like SB.  In fact, they are both part of the instrumentation department within Field Operating Services (FOS).

He has been on the road for five months and on assignments in Ningbo, Nanjing, and Qingdao, China and Singapore.  He's headed to Mangalore, India on another assignment.



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I really enjoy his photos because they capture daily life and the atmosphere in each place, whether it's pretty or not.

The sacks of garbage, flatbed motorbikes, and the street sweepers are just a few of the photos that resonate with our experiences in China but would never occur to me to photograph.

His favorite photo appears normal at first glance, too.  It's of an archery target with a concentration of arrows around the bullseye.

Alex's favorite photo

Read his story of the photo, however, and realize just how remarkable it is:

Qi Chen (a UOP co-worker) and I were touring a lesser-known area of Nanjing.  In the downtown, locals were more-or-less used to foreigners, but once we got away from there, there were a lot more stares.

Qi saw a place with a sign that said "Magic Poker" in Chinese.  He said the little magic shops will show you a trick or two to entice you to buy something.

"Hey, show us a magic trick."

"What? I don't have any magic tricks."

"It says 'Magic Poker' right there!"

"That sign is wrong."

"Then why do you have it?"

"I'm actually going to change it today."

Qi thought that the guy was scared by me, like the white man would break his magic or something.  I thought that was silly, until we met the archery guy.

The archery guy had some sort of little carnival game with crappy toy bows.  When he noticed me laughing at them, he pulled out a slightly better bow from beneath the counter.  I paid my 10 yuan for a couple of shots, nocked and arrow, and shot.

Alex and his magic arrows

When it hit bullseye both Qi and the archery guy jumped back.  The only difference was that the archery guy was a little scared.

As I continued hitting the bullseye (they were easy short shots), he got more and more nervous.  Eventually he left and hid in his little shack, muttering "too damn good, too damn good."

After I finished he said, "you can have anything I have here."

I laughed and told him through Qi, "the look on your face was reward enough," but I don't think it translated.

Thank you, Alex, for the photos, story, and letting me share them.

To everyone else, enjoy!

Alex's Flickr Account:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexrudd/