2011.10.18, it's the day both belong to connecting and disconnecting. A frustrated man had been wandering and shooting these photos in one month at his hometown - "Tainan" every night. Photography is the only one salvation in these sleepless nights at all.
2011.10.18 White Chicken
1st night. I went to a temple festival. I didn't know why there was a fearless white chicken standing in front of the stage which will commence shortly. He is not afraid of people and has been close to me. It seems like that he want to give me some consolation silently.
2011.10.19 Game4 of 2011 CPBL Taiwan Series
2nd night. Game4 of 2011 CPBL Taiwan Series was played in Tainan tonight. I bought a ticket and try to put all the unpleasant aside temporarily. I picked up a telephoto lens and caught this image. "Chin-Feng, Chen - Brother Feng", who is a Taiwanese baseball spiritual leader in decade, was twisted and pushed out of batter's box by the close ball pitched by Uni-President starting pitcher "Yi-Chen, Chen".
2011.10.20 Game5 of 2011 CPBL Taiwan Series
3rd night. I went to Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium again. The home team of Tainan - Uni-President 7-11 Lions beat the Lamigo Monkeys by 10:6 and won the championship of CPBL 22nd year - 2011(All photos of "CPBL 2011 Taiwan Series - Game 4 & 5" on my flickr). I'm a Lions fans since the first year of CPBL in Taiwan, but over the years, I has never participated in casting ribbons when the team win the championship. I was not supposed to be staying in Taiwan tonight but accidentally it's my first time to witness Uni-President 7-11 Lions win the champion. Maybe this world would like to tell me that no matter how bad the situation is, something good will still happens. The most important thing is never give up, keep doing your best! I know that I'll never forget this night all my life.
2011.10.21 County Deity
4th night. I went to "Temple of Tainan County Deity" tonight. In the traditional belief, County Deity is a Mayor or Magistrate of local government in charge of the underworld. County Deity is also in charge of the judgment on good and evil, justice, reward and punishment to human being and ghost. The County Deity would neither wrong the innocence nor let the guilt go. Ｗish the County Deity could have all good and evil beings just the way they should be.
2011.10.22 Peaceful
5th night. I felt peaceful when saw this scene.
2011.10.23 Garden Night Market
6th night. I've taken picture in Tainan famous night market - "Garden Night Market". I was interesting in strolling around the night market when I was a child. But I don't feel like to go to night market after 25 years old because it's so crowded. The changing of my behavior should be the symbol that I'm getting into middle-aged.
2011.10.24 Dusk of Salt Pan
7th night. Just want to immerse myself in photography.
2011.10.25 Exit
8th night. Actually it's dawn in the day, another sleepless night. I rode my motorcycle speedy on Chia-Nan plain at night and wanted to find somewhere to exit for my mind.
2011.10.26 Carrefour
9th night. I went to buy something here with my family last night, we didn't come here for a long time. Strolling around the supermarket is a kind of entertainment when we were in the most difficult situation. We especially love this store because it opens 24 hours. No matter how late you stay here, you won't have to worry about the store closes and you can feel free to stroll around it by your own step. Now, the most difficult situation had been passed. Life has come in here and now. What will be harder to pass?
2011.10.27 Homeless Guy
10th night. Actually it's dawn in the day again. I couldn't fall asleep so went out to take some pictures. This homeless guy who has whole world as his home slept so well.
2011.10.28 Orderly Disorder
11st night. Disorderly wires seem like the state of my mood in this period. The beautiful sunset glow which captured by camera is the salvation gave by photography. It's ugly in every place, but also a beautiful side there. For my hometown, I would be to appreciate its beautiful side earnestly.
2011.10.29 Twelve
12nd night. It's before dawn in the day. AM2:00, strolled around Tainan City with my motorcycle in midnight. Just wanted to shoot something what I saw and felt interesting.
2011.10.30 "Flowers in a Mirror, Moon in the Water"
13rd night. I've been used to take pictures in the sleepless midnight. There is an idiom in Chinese - "Flowers in a mirror, moon in the water". It's used to describe something which is empty and unrealistic. Life can be a long or a short time. If you don't want to sigh for that all your life is just empty or "Flowers in a mirror, moon in the water", you should make your part to be done well and prepare yourself certainly on the road of life.
2011.10.31 Swallow Lake Reflection
14th night. "Autumn Moon & Swallow Lake" is the famous landscape of Tainan City. Although the moon couldn't be saw tonight. The reflection of the Swallow Lake is still very attractive.
2011.11.01 Anping Fish Market
15th night. November has come. I went to "Anping Fish Market"(Theme4 Anping Fish Market) in another sleepless night at am2:00. It's a wholesale fish market where the fishing boats unload their fishing attains directly. Fishers and fishmongers trade with each other busily from am12:00~6:00 every day. If you don't feel like to sleep at midnight in Tainan, you may consider buying some aquatic products home in this market.
2011.11.02 Dark
16th night. Went out at am1:30. It's about the time the night market getting closed. There was messy garbage all around. The night market staff had to clean it out before morning coming. It would be back to normal in daytime. So let's just hide the ugly side into the dark.
2011.11.03 Fake Depraved Ladder
17th night. It was the original library of "National Cheng Kung University"(NCKU) when I've studied in senior high school. It becomes a common reading room now. I went out around the city in this sleepless midnight. I've shot the picture of it but came to take picture again in the evening. I think the color of sky is more attractive at dusk. When rode through here, I remembered that I was very attracted toward the campus life of NCKU during my senior high school times. But NCKU is one of top university in Taiwan, so I never had the chance to become a student of it. I went to university in Taipei after graduated from high school. The University was named "The College of Law and Business, National Chung Hsing University". It restructured into the present "National Taipei University"(NTPU) after I graduated from the university one year later. The school was located in downtown of Taipei City. The area of school land was quite small, so there was no campus life at all. I finally had normal campus life until I went to the graduate school in "National Chengchi University"(NCCU). It reminded me some memories of life in NCCU when I passed here before dawn accidentally. I didn't go to the campus of NCCU too often because of the different state of my mind form a university student to a postgraduate student, but sometime I would still stroll around it at night. The ladder of the NCKU original library reminded me that there was a similar but much higher ladder in front of the NCCU library. I would sit and rest on the ladder for a while when felt tired after stroll around the campus of NCCU at night. The life of student times really leads me to endless aftertastes.
2011.11.04 Underground Passage
18th night. Midnight. Nobody on the street.
2011.11.05 "Song-Zih-Jiao" BBQ seafood restaurant
19th night. My sister and her husband came back to Tainan this weekend. We went to have dinner at "Song-Zih-Jiao" which is the famous BBQ seafood restaurant of Tainan. It's the very typical lifestyle of Taiwanese folk with the slight breeze and open-air street food booth in front of the temple square.
2011.11.06 Epinephelus Merra
20th night. My sister and her husband asked me to bring them to Anping Fish Market. So I went to here with my family in midnight again. It's really interesting that you can see such a variety of fish species in midnight.
2011.11.07 Yellow Light
21st night. Standing at a crossroads at this moment. It's neither the green light you can pass through, nor the red light to be able to stop. It's just the yellow light in the middle which is hesitant. Where can I find the salvation?
2011.11.08 Roadside Banquets
22nd night. Rode pass through the "Former Julius Mannich Merchant House(Former German Julius Mannich & CO.)" - a third-grade historic site of Tainan - in evening. This international conference was being held - Visual Communications Image Processing(VCIP)2011. The scholars on stage introduced themselves are from Japan, Korea, Germany, and USA...etc, and the audience participants should be from more different countries. It's very creative to hold an international seminar in front of the centuries-old Tainan historic site(All photos of "Tainan Historic Sites" on my flickr) with the Taiwanese traditional unique style - Roadside Banquets.
2011.11.09 Night Scene of Tainan Confucius Temple
23rd night. It has been raining for several days. We don't have too much rain in Tainan during this season. I went to Tainan Confucius Temple(All photos of "Tainan Confucius Temple" on my flickr) tonight. As many people know, Tainan is the primary city of Taiwan, so it owns the most number of cultural property and historic sites in Taiwan. Tainan Confucius Temple is the most representative of them. It is the first Confucian Temple built on Taiwan in AD 1715 and has become to be known as Foremost School in all Taiwan. Thereafter, Taiwan entered into the period of civilization, thus Tainan Confucius Temple is very meaningful in the history of Taiwan. Author has been shooting pictures of Tainan historic sites in the past few years. When review the shots, I found I shot most pictures here. But I have never taken pictures of Tainan Confucius Temple in the rainy night, so I came to here to shoot the night scene of Tainan Confucius Temple in a rarely rainy day. It really feels different while comparing to the usually shots.
2011.11.10 Rainy Night
24th night. Rain has never stopped from last night. Whole city seemed to be soaked in water. I went to take picture in the evening. The building in the photo is "National Museum of Taiwanese Literature"(All photos of "National Museum of Taiwanese Literature" on my flickr). It was the "Former Tainan City Hall" which remained from Japanese occupation era. It's the imitation of Baroque architecture which was designed and built by Japanese. And it's also "Minsheng Green Garden" traffic circle here. Motorcyclists were wearing colorful raincoats in a rainy day. It's another interesting dimention of Taiwan, too.
2011.11.11 Night Scene of Chihkan Tower
25th night. It's "Chihkan Tower"(All photos of "Chihkan Tower" on my flickr) which is also the historic site author take pictures frequently. Chihkan Tower was built in AD 1653 by the Dutch people and was named "Provintia". The main function of it was the administrative center at that time. The original building has been destroyed due to age-old. The building we can see now was built by Japanese during the Japanese occupation era. After the period of colonial Dutch government on Formosa(now known as Taiwan), pro-Ming Dynasty state(also known as "The Kingdom of Tungning"), Qing Dynasty rule, Japanese occupation era and even the "Republic of China - Taiwan"(not the "People's Republic of China") today, Tainan has always been the origin and center of Taiwan's multi-culture. To live in Tainan is so lucky that there are a lot of historic sites to shoot.
2011.11.12 Blue Moonlit Night
26th night. It's about am5:00. I couldn't fall asleep all the night so went out to take pictures in the dawn. And I found it was full moon in this night. Although the sky was still cloudy, but the moon shined its bright and clear moonlight from the clouds gap between whiles. Thus I had a beautiful blue moonlit night before the sunrise.
2011.11.13 Take me out to far away
27th night. In the dark. Would like to be took out to somewhere far away by the light flow on the railway.
2011.11.14 Night Scene of Anping Old Fort
28th night. It's "Anping Old Fort"(All photos of "Chihkan Tower" on my flickr). It was also built in AD 1624 by the Dutch people and was named "Zeelandia". The original building has been destroyed, too. But the incomplete wall you can see in front of the picture is the historical remains. And the spire architecture right behind it in the picture was built by Japanese during the Japanese occupation era. I came to take picture here this afternoon and suddenly it's becoming dusk. Thus I took the night scene of it.
2011.11.15 Temple Festival of Taiwanese Traditional Religious Ritual
29th night. There are many temples in Tainan proceeding "Taiwanese Traditional Religious Ritual Events" recently so the traditional lanterns are all around the city. I pretty liked this kind of makeshift construction with the colorful decorations and actively dolls in my childhood. But it is usually removed in a short time, so I have to grasp the opportunity to take picture for it.
2011.11.16 Here Comes the Dawn
30th night. It was the liveliest areas of Tainan. And it's still a good place for many people shopping around here now. I've shot the picture here with motion picture film before but can't help to shot with a digital camera again. Advances in technology have brought us many conveniences. Handheld shooting becomes easier due to the pure quality of high ISO of digital camera. And the grain of film is still gentle and mild. Film and Digital photography both has their advantageous position when comparing to each other.
2011.11.17 Merry Christmas
31st night. Suddenly, department stores began to put out their Christmas tree. So it will be Christmas Day after one more month. Time has passed so fast, the year will be end instantly. Hope everyone can have the best wishes in such a wonderful Christmas Day. Merry Christmas.
To shoot night scene in Tainan for one month uninterruptedly, this theme can be considered as temporary close. I had not planned particularly about the works this time in advance, just been shooting randomly depends on my own memories and feeling of this city every day. Although it may be lack of intension, but they are author's outside self-projection to this real world during the period. Of course, there are always many endless story and landscape to be shot in a city. All the beautiful or ugly side could not be present completely. Therefore, I'll keep shooting in the future.
The beginning of this theme was the unpleasant emotion. To face it, I could just help myself to pass the tough time through photography. Perhaps I'm somewhat comforted by the process of producing the graphic and article, or maybe just the time healed and smoothed down the feeling of my heart. I still not feel so well, but I think it will get better slowly. Hope I can keep the creative energy in future, but do not have negative emotions anymore.
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