Shirley Baker, Street Photographer

“I cannot claim that my photographs represent anything other than a few wisps teased from some of the countless threads that form the intricate tapestry of our lives.” (Shirley Baker)

I posted about street photographer Vivian Maier on my old blog and the documentary film about her and her work, Finding Vivian Maier, is now in cinemas. There is also a series of short films about her on Vimeo. I’ve just come across another extraordinary street photographer of roughly the same period, Shirley Baker, who photographed dialy life in Manchester and Salford, England. The article Life… as it was, as it is: Remembering Shirley Baker and her iconic photography of Salford and Manchester by Jack Howson tells the story of her life and work. Her photographs can also be seen online at The Guardian and BBC web pages.

A Vegetarian Meal in Xi’an

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Wordless Wednesday #70 is a photo of a small restaurant in a Muslim neighbourhood of Xi’an, China. We had just eaten at the restaurant next door and as we left the scene caught my eye. None of the commenters on WW #70 mentioned that the women were wearing hijab but it is more obvious in the photo here, of the server in the restaurant where we ate. The other photo, below, is of their response to my request for a vegetarian meal. I often find in China that I ask for vegetarian food and still get food with meat in it (possibly because of the limitations of my Chinese!) but here they got it right away and made delicious food for me in about five minutes, from scratch. And I really do mean from scratch. The video shows the making of the noodles, entirely by hand. (Photos and video in this post by my friend, and wonderful host in China, Xuemei Li.)

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Click here for noodles video