Yesterday was a trip to Thamestown so I got the underground, bus, train and motorbike taxi, taking almost 3 hours each way. This is not great. Anyway, Thamestown is as it had been described. A low-rise of Edwardian, Regency and Tudor residential and commercial areas – spotless, quiet and dead. Quite the reverse of travelling through the 30-million strong megacity to get here, whose anatomy is so curiously flat, offering little perspective. Devoid of anyone that could be described as resident, most properties are apparently sold. However, the place was enlivened by 20 or so newlywed couples having their photos taken, utilising this faux ‘Little Britain’ as a backdrop to their special day..
It was also tricky getting into the residential areas as they are all gated communities, although ‘communities’ is rather a misnomer. I did manage to sneak in a couple of times and found myself standing in a hallucinatory development awash with quoins, bay windows and porches, alongside numerous other suburban accoutrements.
My approach will be to include as few people, if any, in the frame as this will be distracting and turn the image into mere anecdote. I also want to shoot in overcast, flat lighting to retain a certain neutrality, in an attempt to mirror my experience as an outsider. The lighting may be tricky to achieve consistently, but fortunately Shanghai is often overcast and I have the high levels of pollution on my side that create an added haze.
So, a long day with lots of language problems, much pointing at my English/Mandarin phrasebook and gesticulating. I think I’ll have to bite the bullet and hire a driver, as it seems not many people know about these ‘new’ towns’ and the language barrier seems to increase with every mile I travel away from the city centre. I can then do a couple of locations in a day and avoid six hours travelling. Plus I’ll get to sit on my butt and let someone else do all the navigating..
