The People You See in Chengdu

Note: this is the first in a series of photography-focused posts created by American photographer Jake Homovich. 

I’m struck by the characters that I meet every day in Chengdu. They draw me in and hold my attention. They show me a different part of their society that I thought I never have the chance to see. That’s why I decided to start a photography project called Lao Bai Xing (“Ordinary people”): a project that documents the various individuals that I meet though out my daily life in Sichuan.

Though street portraits and images, I hope to bring a more candid light to the people of this city. For me, street photography is the pursuit of capturing the raw moment. It’s an attempt at framing a single piece of history and letting it take on a life of it’s own, and with one glance, anyone can see that Chengdu is a vibrant, and fascinating city with a huge diversity of life to offer. It’s brimming with culture and activity, and the daily bustle that surrounds it’s people forms a riveting story which I seek to capture.

Whenever I go out to shoot, I usually just pick an unfamiliar neighbourhood and see what presents itself. I get purposely lost in the myriad of side streets and back alleys and end up bumping into random people; I’ve met stone masons, bums, artists, butchers, and many more characters. These photos capture those momentary relationships with people I have in Chengdu before we each go our separate ways.

Jake H. portrait

Jake H. portrait

Jake H. portrait

Jake H. portrait

Jake H. portrait

Jake H. portrait

Jake H. portrait

Jake H. portrait

2 thoughts on “The People You See in Chengdu”

  1. Yeah,obviously these pictures show us the daily life of the middle age people.In China,there’s a saying that when you are fifty,you wouldn’t care how to get a goal or making a lot of money,all you want is happiness.You wish you have some best friends you can talk with,you wish your family could be warm and have more time to stay with them.

    Reply

Leave a Comment