Saturday, December 19, 2009

A Shopping Avenue Through a Long Exposure in Shanghai, China


Shanghai China, originally uploaded by flickrgao.

I am not sure what comes over me when I look at this shopping district avenue that opens up on a reassuringly blue sky, an inevitable golden arches logo, and an exotically appealing spire or two in the horizon. Ghostly imprints of passers-by flit past the camera slow to take its picture. Does it invite to walk into one of the shopping malls that feel to be within a walking distance from this spot? Do I want to go around the corner as a Benjamin's or Kracauer's flaneur would? Would a language or cultural barrier be an insuperable obstacle to be not lost in translation, as one would in Tokyo of the same film title?

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