19th May 2011 Trial Point 4 – the missed one
GPS: 29.17”890’N 106.23”178’E Altitude: 555ft
After wandering in the city for two weeks, it’s refreshing to concentrate on the river for a day again. This time I didn’t expect much from Point 4, I might struggle to take a picture again.
But Point 4 was everything you can find by the river. A massive paper plant with great blue domes, a typical white-red chimney and a container port dominate the opposite bank. On this side, one can find a ship-building yard, a small port, a pebble-digging site, some sand-digging boats and some vegetable patches.Viewed from our 60km train journey along the river, similar view was constant all the way through. We managed to find a good spot for the photograph. But what I’m considering now is the advantages, disadvantages, and meanings of this ‘Point Approach’.
It is a good way to keep close to the river site as well as to collect convincing data. So far every point has pointed to the same conclusion: the uncontrollable industrialisation and urbanisation of China on the huge cost of its natural and cultural environment. Many of the damages are probably not reservable.
But after all these, a river in my mind will always be a river. I might not find it here by the side of the Yangtze, but it’s still there.The Point System obviously has its charm of travelling, but is this what I’m after for the work? How do I bring out the river that’s in my mind?
