I was coming back from TungHai University recently with my son and we veered off of crowded main road for a short cut. Little did I know we'd encounter a photographic treasure trove, especially for someone like me that loves grungy urban decay-type subjects. I made a mental note to come back to this Third Trading Village ASAP. I still don't know why the military housing compounds near the Air Force base in ShuiNan, Taichung are called Trading Villages but I do know there are at least 9 of them.
I have many good images from 2 different shoots so I will post more and here is link to the set on flickr. During the first shoot one of the residents of the neighboring community stopped and asked me why I was shooting there. I told him because I could feel the ghosts of the community. I re-stated that to indicate I was talking more of a stream of consciousness, artistic meaning than metaphysical. So many had lived there, some died, given birth, wedded, fought, loved, etc. You could sense that while passing through. That with the decaying structures made it a must for me.
Music-Rich Kids: Sound of Marching Men
