Within sight of a new core socialist values sign in Wuzhou a row of planters serve to block vehicles from entering a pedestrian street. Today there was a small tragedy.
After I took the above photo, a woman who had been sitting nearby rushed over and told me I couldn't take photos like this one. She then explained that somebody would be arriving soon to fix things. I guessed she didn't want me sharing what she considered to be a bad look. But I simply wished to capture a moment of everyday life which also spoke to issues regarding design.
Since I was photographing in a public area an inanimate object presumably of little concern to the Ministry of State Security or the Ministry of Public Security and the woman wasn't wearing a uniform, I felt I didn't need to be worried about being negatively affected by at least one of China's core socialist values — rule of law. So I exercised another core socialist value — freedom — and took one more photo for context.
Yes, the woman was still watching me, perhaps thinking I was not following one of the core socialist values — civility.
About two hours later, I returned to the same location. The woman was gone. And the problem had been fixed.
So I will happily share a photo which speaks to yet another core socialist value.
After I took the above photo, a woman who had been sitting nearby rushed over and told me I couldn't take photos like this one. She then explained that somebody would be arriving soon to fix things. I guessed she didn't want me sharing what she considered to be a bad look. But I simply wished to capture a moment of everyday life which also spoke to issues regarding design.
Since I was photographing in a public area an inanimate object presumably of little concern to the Ministry of State Security or the Ministry of Public Security and the woman wasn't wearing a uniform, I felt I didn't need to be worried about being negatively affected by at least one of China's core socialist values — rule of law. So I exercised another core socialist value — freedom — and took one more photo for context.
Yes, the woman was still watching me, perhaps thinking I was not following one of the core socialist values — civility.
About two hours later, I returned to the same location. The woman was gone. And the problem had been fixed.
So I will happily share a photo which speaks to yet another core socialist value.
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| Harmony |
It's likely that your foreigner's photography expedited the planter getting reset in a timely manner.
ReplyDeletePossible... but given the location I wouldn't be surprised if somebody was really already on the way at the time. There was one time in particular I thought my photography spurred sudden action where I discovered it was just coincidence. More about that decaying plaza another day.
DeleteI don't know if I would get in trouble for it or not, or if I would get complaints from passers-by, but if I were there, I probably would have tried to put it back up and get as much soil as I could back in the planter.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing the woman who spoke to me would've had quite a reaction to that. In any case, I figured it was best for the plants to let the pros handle it.
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