The Road Home
Shanghai Railway Station, late summer, 2006
Rolleiflex 3.5 E3, Ilford Delta 400 black and white film
Train stations are a great place to take candid people shots and this applies to China as much as any other place. For this photo, I used one of my vintage Rolleiflex twin lens reflex (TLR) cameras which tends to make people feel less nervous about having their photo taken, if indeed they even realize they are being photographed. The waist-level viewfinder means the camera is often just by my waist and it isn’t always obvious I am taking a picture. The near silent leaf shutter also helps me to keep a low profile compared to the loud thud of my Zenza Broncica ETRS. And of course, film has a very distinctive look that many people love.
These migrant workers are relaxing outside Shanghai Railway Station, presumably waiting for their train to return home with all their possessions in the bags. Many people from poorer regions will come to big cities like Shanghai looking for work opportunities. It’s often hard work, but the money they can earn here, or other major cities like Beijing or Guangzhou is far better than any job they might find in their home towns.
Many migrant workers only go home once a year, during the lunar new year holiday to see their families and to bring back some of their hard-earned wages. This photo was clearly not taken during the cold lunar new year period, so perhaps their jobs came to a natural break. In any case, I love how they all seem very happy and relaxed and the presence of me and my camera didn’t have any impact on them. As a result, the photo is very natural and the scene was not disrupted after they became aware of my presence.
As this photo was taken 17 years ago, I do wonder what these guys are doing now. Have they retired in their home towns or are they still making the trip to the big city to earn money for their families? Or perhaps their children have taken over as bread winners while they relax back home. I guess we will never know.
If you’d like to see the YouTube video where I explain the background to this picture, please click below.