Instant Love
Went to Burning Man last year. One thing I love about it was their spirit of giving. It's just nice to see generosity bouncing around so freely. But you gotta admit, it's also a bit contrived to drive all the way into a desert in order to be super nice to some middle-class strangers.
So for 2011, I decided do something slightly more real.
Despite regional instability, thousands of tourists pass through Tibet every year, each with their expensive cameras clicking away.
To us, children and nomads of the highest plain represent excellent photo opportunities, the last drops of innocence on earth. But I suspected these poor people have never bought a camera and it's probably very rare for them have their very own pictures.
So there I was high up near the Himalayas by the glacier, waving around my Qing Hua DianaF+, giving out Fuji Instax Polaroids.
Knowing that some African tribes hate their souls being stolen, I had some reservations as to whether Tibetan would warm up to the idea.
But in no time, kids gathered around me, adults pushing to the front, people spontaneously forming lines. On more than one occasion, I had trouble getting back into the 4WD, and closing the door without snapping off some dirty little fingers.
When I saw a father happily tucked away his son's picture inside his robes, when this mother chased me down to our Jeep eagerly put her 1yo in front of me, it brought a smile to my face.
Thank you lomography. Thank you Fuji Instax film.
I didn't keep any of those little portraits. There's no way they'd let me anyway lol This digital picture is the only record I have.
But that warm feeling, yeah, it will stay with me for the rest of my life.
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