Beijing Express

In April 2024, Beijing was living summer temperatures. During five days, I walked around the city, testing my poor Chinese vocabulary whenever I could. Coming from Hong Kong where I was based at the time, I was playing with my mental camera, observing how people moved, laughed, sang, played cards in the streets…I met a great musician who played La Marseillaise with his saxophone on Dongsi street. I enjoyed watching women chanting and dancing in the Summer Palace garden. I sat on a bench for an hour, watching a hundred or so tall soldiers learning to march in Wenhuadian garden. Then, I stood in line for two hours to visit the Forbidden City, immense, humbling, fascinating. Once inside, I chased all the people who where having their Hanfu day, wearing a traditional dress for the visit. They loved to be photographed. The last day, I woke up at 4 am to walk in the dark and reach Tiananmen Square for the Flag Raising Ceremony, a moving moment of pure thrill. I will be back soon.

Beijing, 2024

Film 35mm & Digital