Thank you for your comments, James. I agree with your older comment about the contrast issue. The actual print has slightly less contrast, but I have also seen some lineart photos of similar scenes which had only black and white, nothing in between, and I think it works great for this subject, so I thought I would try it this way. Also, this picture is from an era when I was messing around with different kinds of films, and never spent the time to get to know one, so I did not handle the film with enough care, which can lead to even more obvious signs of carelessness with films like the Delta 400.
My passion for China is at least as important in my photography as my passion for photography itself. They wouldn't be without each other. I am of course very happy if people think my photographs are good, but it is not my primary objective to receive mass appretiation. When I started photography, I never thought people would say anything more than "nice", or "cute" about my photos. If only a few people think there is more than a "nice building", or a "cute kid" in my pictures, that is a lot of recognition for me.
oliver, i just visited hongcun two days ago. after seeing this village, i was quite impressed. a shame this photo and some of your others haven't been recognized as much as they should have.
nice B and W oliver. in the cities you no longer see this kind of setting in china, it seems. only suggestion i might have is to brighten it up a bit, maybe change the contrast. but that's only my opinion. still looks fine.
0 
