Not Beijing 1978

what's the light like in NYC in 1975?

Day 3 of looking at not New York. What is the same everywhere in the 70’s? Well, bicycles are in every city we have looked at so far. More in New Delhi, fewer in Havana, many many many in Beijing.

Inge Morath's 1978 Beijing photos from her larger China story that seems to have covered most of the more northern mainland.

Every photo in this story has beautiful light. And so many windows. If you haven’t guessed it yet, this whole Checking Out set design project is about windows. Who gets to have windows? Who gets to have the big windows? Who gets to feel the sunlight on their faces?

We can see this sunlight, and imagine how it feels falling on that bookstore patron’s shoulders because there seems to be some haze in the air. That glow makes the first biker in their almost black clothing stand out so nicely against the progressively further bikers and trees that are lit and lightened by the sun and the air.