It Just Feels Right

I have finally moved back to Lilliput, as my Dad would say (well, I guess as Jonathan Swift would say). My family and I made it back to the little county of Sanjiang, tucked at the juncture of China’s Guangxi, Guizhou, and Hunan Provinces. It is not much, but having been mobile for two years (we left just before the birth of our oldest), it is nice to settle back in.

Some kind of photographic lightbulb has clicked on in my head; somehow this place just feels right. So much of my experience in China has been in the countryside in these parts, and my archive reflects that. For the past two years, I have been shooting big cities, different countries, portraits for friends, and just about everything but that main interest.

From those very early trips into the Chinese countryside, something about the towns, villages, customs, and people absolutely fascinated me. Then, I stayed long enough that it became normal or as if I was in some kind of race to understand the locals better than anybody else. It became old hat and academic. Having been away for two years, though, and now reentering, much of that original fascination (mixed with some very new passions as well) is coming back.

We have only been here a few days, but I am just itching to shoot. “Patience, Grasshopper.” Right now, it is time to clean house, settle in, clean the coffee house, and prepare the paperwork to open business. The time will come.

Cooper Strange Written by: