There is a certain magic in street photography: you press the shutter, catch a moment, and never know what fate awaits that specific shot. This story is exactly about such a case, which happened almost by accident.
In 2012, I was traveling in China and found myself in Fenghuang – an incredibly colorful ancient town. I was just wandering its narrow streets with my camera, soaking in the atmosphere, smells, and sounds. And then I saw this scene. An elderly Chinese man in a bright blue work jacket was calmly grinding mountains of fiery red chili peppers. The color contrast was stunning, and the texture of the baskets along with the sheer abundance of red simply demanded to be captured.
I took the shot. After returning home, I picked it out from many others and published it on 500px under the title “Spicy Food Guru”.
The life of the photograph could have ended right there, fading into millions of other images online. But the internet had its own plans. First, the shot was noticed by the authors of a popular blog (which doesn’t even exist anymore) – they used it to illustrate a large article about Asian food, honestly crediting my authorship.
And then something I never expected happened.
I was suddenly contacted by representatives of the Indian edition of National Geographic Traveller. They had seen this shot, and they liked it so much that they offered to buy the rights to use it… for the cover of their upcoming issue.
Of course, I agreed. Realizing that a moment you caught on a street in a Chinese province would be printed in thousands of copies in India under the famous yellow border is an indescribable feeling. Some time later, they sent me an author’s copy – the National Geographic Traveller India issue from December 2012. I still keep this magazine at home.
Can I be proud of this? I often ask myself this question. I don’t consider this shot some incredible masterpiece, and there is a fair amount of luck in its success. But still, when your view of the world aligns with the vision of the editors of one of the most authoritative travel magazines, it is definitely an achievement. And a great reminder that the main rule of a photographer is to just take your camera with you and never stop shooting.
