Sunday, November 04, 2012

Where East Meets East

Big ship, cool building
Shanghai, China
May 2012

Please click here for more "worse for wear" Thematic


















For something that plies the seas and braves powerful waves and unpredictable storms, the typical freighter doesn't seem up to the task. Old, rusty, dumpy...not quite the engineering tour de force you want watching your back as you enter into the seafaring equivalent of Hades.

Thankfully I'm standing on shore and not hanging out on the bow like the tiny yellow-clad crew member pictured here. And since I didn't hear of any major shipwrecks in the region in the months after I shot this, I'm guessing my fears were unfounded.

Whatever. The big, past-its-prime Russian ship slipping past the Bund was too good to pass up. How often do symbols of Communism's once-optimistic past and scruffy present end up in the same frame?

Your turn: What's the guy on the bow thinking?

3 comments:

bARE-eYED sUN said...

the guy on the bow is thinking: "someone's taking my picture, i should have worn my nicer coat instead of this old yellow thing."

i love the shot, heep up the good work.

..
.ero
.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Made it ma, top of the world!
~

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

"I wish this guy in the blue coat wouldn't stand so close to me -- it's MY photo op!"