People and Cultures Photography
Read MoreBreaking bricks
One afternoon, I went chasing after a persistent tapping noise. I found the noise but must have looked rather dumbfounded at the construction site. The young man on the left called out to me that I was welcome to take a picture of the woman breaking bricks. Still not sure what was going on, I nonetheless squatted next to her, held up my camera and asked, Okay? I was more than a little intimidated by her piercing gaze, and I suppose she was as puzzled about me as I was about her. She eventually nodded yes and I only took a few images before moving on. I later learned that at demolition sites, people are hired to break up used brick so it can later be used as aggregate in concrete, and are paid by the size of their pile of cobbles.
When I saw this fellow heating up a pot of food for a mid-day meal, I climbed down the road bank, held up my camera and asked if I could take a photo. I was puzzled when he turned around and all his friends appeared to start teasing him. For a moment I thought I had offended him, but then he turned back to me. I began taking some photos while the teasing grew louder. What I then realized was that he turned his back to me to primp for the photos.