Sheila Bocchine, Photographer

When I signed up for this trip I had no idea what we were doing, so every bit was a total surprise for me.  No one spoke English and we all know how fabulous my Chinese is. Our last stop was a park and at first I was thinking , “Oh man, another park, more mountains…blah…” BUT this park was full of monkeys!!! Some were sweet and would eat out of my hand, but others if I got to close, they pulled my hair, and ripped out chunks. Another monkey grabbed my hand and scratched me, luckily I was wearing gloves. So, yup. I got attacked by wild monkeys in China. The people babysitters (the tour guy was terrified of me, so he assigned babysitters every place we went) on my tour kept telling me stay away from the monkeys, but how I was suppose to know which monkey was nice and which monkey was vicious if I didn’t get close? Silly tourists!

*If you’re looking for rad pinhole photographs for you home, office, baby room, kitchen…. then look here first!

During my Chinese New Year holiday I went to Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province, a truly magnificent view. It was also the inspiration for Pandora, the city in the clouds, in the movie Avatar. The mountain side glass elevator was pretty nifty as well as the ‘old man gathering herbs’ rock formation (last photo).

Looking to buy pinhole photography prints? Check out that link for affordable, unique photographs!

During my Chinese New Year holiday I went to Hunan Province and visited the gorgeous Yellow Dragon Cave. I think what made the cave so special for me, were the neon lights. I’m a total sucker for neon lights, especially in condensed neighborhoods, which is one of the reasons I love South Korea and Mong Kok (Hong Kong) so much.

Looking to buy pinhole photography prints? Click here!

Yuen Po Street Bird Garden – Untitled 3, Hong Kong, China

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Ohhh!  I’m thrilled to pieces to share my good news with you. My pinhole photographs will be in 2 exhibits opening in April.

The first is at Centre Culturel André Malraux, in Le Bourget, France. The exhibit, Safari Urbain, features 12 incredible photographers and opens on April 12th. The press release is in French, but there are plenty of photos to look at if you so desire.

The second exhibit, the Sixth International Lensless Photography Exhibition, will be held at the The Cultural Center of Barcelona Can Basté. The End of the World features pinhole photographers from around the world and opens on April 26th. I’ll be showing 6 new pieces from the Yuen Po Street, Bird Garden series pinholed in Hong Kong.

If you’re in the neighborhood and make it to the exhibits, I’d love some photographs!

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Looking for unique photographs to hang in your home? Thank you for looking here first! 

My love affair with cupping started in South Korea.  I’m still searching for a place in my neighborhood, but while I was in Hunan province we went to see my friends uncle who is a Chinese Medicine Doctor and has been for 40 years.

In his office he checked my tongue to make sure there was nothing wrong with my insides followed by checking my pulse for about 5 minutes. I was given a clean bill of heath, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity for cupping .  Lucky for you I had my friend take some photographs of the process.

They believe that cupping moves the blood around your body, in turn healing your body. If you’re interested you can read more about cupping here  and here. 

It hurts a little at first, but after a while it’s soothing and sleep inducing. I find that I can breathe so much better after a session. Most of the bruises will fade by the next day, but the deeper colored ones will take longer, and those are the ones where toxins are located in your body. If you ever get the opportunity, try it!

Time to cross a few more goals off my list!

2. Find a way to chop onions without crying – I tried putting the onion in the freezer for 15 minutes, but it didn’t work.  The quest continues. Le sigh.

7. Go to Hong Kong. Shanghai. Beijing. Guangzhou - And at least one other place in China.  I have been to a few other places including Changde and Zhangjiajie in Hunan province.

23. Learn how to say my address in Chinese and learn basic Chinese - Oh yeah!!!!!  I can tell the taxi driver my address in Chinese and get myself home! I’m still learning basic Chinese…

24. Master the squatter potty. First in a dress, then in pantyhose and finally in pants  -  I can definitely cross this one off. I had to use squatter potties on my trip in Hunan province. I even had to use one on a moving train, having done that successfully, I can call myself master.

25. Find at least 5 (1,2,3,4,5) dishes I enjoy in China AND be able to order them in Chinese - I can order egg and tomato over noodles (鸡蛋和西红柿比面条 Jīdàn hé xīhóngshì bǐ miàntiáo). I have found other Chinese dishes I like, but I don’t know the names…

Just a roundup of rad things I’ve found on the internet! Enjoy!

Fireflies at night. Stunning.

100 things to do with a banana!  So rad!

This gorgeous airport photograph. Makes me yearn for travel!

…on these Hello Kitty jets! 

The work of Megan Geckler. 

The RTW fall collection of Barbara Tfank.  Simply elegant!

Every single one of these gorgeous handmade birds by Abigail Brown. 

The Carnovsky RGB exhibit would fabulous to see in person!

This darling hand embroidered Polaroid camera! 

Frozen Vodka! Perfect for a summer soiree!

The organic movement of Martin Roemers photographs. 

This super cute and tiny digital camera will be mine!  I love that it doesn’t have a LCD screen so you have to wait until you download to view them.

Whoa, Street Art.

What better way to get excited about summer than looking at vintage ice cream trucks!

Vintage camera nightlights. 

I keep meaning to post this: 25 most viral people on the internet.

During my holiday in February I went to visit some old friends up north in Changde, Hunan Province, China. I experienced a whole different kind of China and it was wonderful. We went to the riverfront, took a boat across the river to an island, went to a lake, a temple, some markets and to the hot springs! I visited with a Chinese medicine doctor and learned how to play Mahjong. I’m so grateful for the kindness and hospitality of my friends and their family.

My Hunan adventure started with a 14 hour sleeper train ride. The only seat available was a top bunk so I took it, definitely not knowing how crazy it would be up there. Once I found my bed, the task of getting up there was daunting. Someone tried to help me, but I still couldn’t do it. I eventually closed my eyes and had to jump, thank goodness I made it. It was at this point, I realized I could not leave my bed until absolutely necessary… which was in the morning, when I had to conquer my fear of squatter potties… on a moving train…

In Changde, our first stop was the famous riverfront.

Another destination was the lake.

We also visited a beautiful temple.

If you’re in the market for some beautiful photographs for your home, check here first! 

Whoo hooo!  I’m back online!  Internet in China can be crazy sporadic… so now  I have to play catch up.

There’s a street in Hong Kong, swimming with goldfish (and other zany animals). The security is tight and more than once, big, buff  men stood in front of my camera and said “No photographs.” So my sneaking attempts were often out-smarted. I did manage to stealthily take a few photographs and totally felt 007!!

This would be the perfect street for contact lens cameras… or pinhole fingertip cameras… or… invisible cameras! Ha!  Wouldn’t it be so rad, to walk into the shops and pretend to take a photo.  I’m totally going to get a group of friends together to ‘invisible photograph’ this street! We’ll have to be all serious too, adjusting our tripod legs, cleaning our lenses, changing our film!  I’m either super tired OR a genius! What do you think?

In the market for a beautiful photograph to decorate your home? Try here first! 

The Hong Kong Flower market is a beautiful, bustling few blocks of colorful goodness. I caught myself closing my eyes and inhaling deep perfumed breaths. The smells were deliciously fresh and fragrant, transporting me to a peaceful country garden. There were hoards of people touching, smelling and carefully picking the best specimens while the merchants were wrapping flowers as quickly as they could… and one man, must of been transported to that peaceful country garden, for he was sleeping. Yes, sleeping in the flowers with  people shopping all around him!  I loved it!

If you’re looking to buy photography, check out my pinhole photography boutique!!  Thanks for looking!

Don’t you just love the internet, inspiration and beauty can be found with just a click! Here are a few things I found this week:

*Michael Chrisma’s year long pinhole photograph of Toronto is breathtaking. I couldn’t love it more!

*Yellow Heart Art is a funny and addictive blog, but she also makes these darling squishable art pillows. I think any of the cameras would look lovely on my sofa!

*Valentines Day is around the corner and it seems everyone is posting their favorite valentines…and I think these are just darling!

*25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 Minutes! She has some great scarf ideas, but even if you don’t wear scarves, watch the video because the quality is suburb!

*I love birds and the pattern on this dress is gorgeous!

*Gosh, this photo is stunning. Do you think you could walk across a wire?

*WOW! John Chiara’s Giant Camera Obscura is incredible! He has to climb inside the camera to use it!

*Paris versus New York are delightful graphics by Vahram Muratyan. I think la romantique or l’obsession would be perfect in my home! (via Creamy Life)

*Staying in the rural home of a Hong Kong eco-cook sound like the perfect weekend get away!

A little piece of heaven on Earth, Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, is a delightful refuge in a bustling city. It’s a garden, with vendors that sell birds and bird accessories. If you are smitten with talking parrots, love birds, and other exotic beauties, this is a must see in Hong Kong.

I’ve been there twice and it’s a miracle I haven’t left with a new best friend. Sometimes I think I have’t an ounce of willpower, but surely I do, or I’d be feeding grasshoppers to a sweet pink and grey parrot right now. I definitely have one picked out. She’s grey and hot pink. She likes to cuddle and look into your eyes. If she were a he, he’d be perfect! Maybe she is a he, what do I know. I just assume it’s a she because of her glorious hot pink feathers.

I also met the most adorable older woman, she’s the keeper of the birds and too sweet for words!  She kept telling me how beautiful I was! So naturally we bonded over her kind words! That was all she knew how to say in English, but one of the guys in our group spoke Cantonese and translated for me.  She said I was so nice and friendly!

Looking for a pinhole photograph to hang in your home? I think you’ll find what you’re looking for here!

There’s a little village, with houses built on stilts, on Lantau Island, called Tai O Fishing Village. The textures. The peeling paint. The rust. The odd materials used for building. I wanted to photograph every little nook and cranny. Every wall. Every corner. Every doorway.

Every where you looked, mixed media masterpieces. Poetry made with bare hands. A paradise of abstract graphics. Layer built upon layer of stories, waiting to be discovered. Simply beautiful.

If you’re looking for a pinhole photograph to brighten your home, you can find them here! Thanks for looking!

I have been busy working on my goals for the year. That’s always fun! So here’s an update:

2. Find a way to chop onions without crying – I have scoured the internet looking for tricks and tips and every time I cut an onion I’m trying a new one. So far I’ve tried lighting a candle while I cut and not opening my mouth. They both worked a little better than nothing, but I still cried.  BUT at least it wasn’t cry so much that I’m fearful of cutting off my fingers! So I’d say that’s good progress.

7. Go to Hong Kong. Shanghai. Beijing. Guangzhou. And at least one other place in China – I have been to Hong Kong! Whooo hoooo!!!

13. Find the post office in China and send lots of postcards – DONE and DONE!

27. Try to do something new for 30 days, every 30 days – This is such a fun project! The first 1.5 months I did the same thing, little to no drinking.  I only drank 3 times. My body needed a super break from alcohol. For the next 30 days I’m doing 2 things: Oil pulling and writing a blog every day.

I read about oil pulling with coconut oil and the health benefits that come with it and I thought ‘why not’.  So every morning for the last 5  mornings I’ve been putting 1 TBSP of virgin coconut oil in my mouth and swishing it around for 20 minutes (I just play Words with Friends or check what’s happening on facebook).  It’s more like pushing and pulling (sucking?) the oil between your teeth. One thing I’ve noticed right away is that I sleep better at night. Coconut oil is so good for you, here’s an article with 52 uses for coconut oil. Fascinating!

If you want to learn more about oil pulling, you can find more information here and here.

I’m also writing a blog everyday for 30 days, and hopefully every day forever! I always have so much to say and so many photos to show, but by the time I get around to blogging, it’s not timely anymore.  Well all that is changing this month!

What goals are you working on?

I love Chinese New Year and what a treat it was to finally experience it in China. I have celebrated in Chicago, NYC, Phoenix, South Korea and the Philippines, but I have to say China was the most spectacular. I feel so lucky to be living in China during the year of the dragon!

Unfortunately I missed the parade, fireworks and horse race in Hong Kong due to rain but enjoyed plenty of fireworks from my balcony. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I live on the 10th floor, surrounded by hi-rises in a city of 20 million and watched countless rooftop firework displays. It was totally surreal. Roman candles blasting off balconies, so close, like fiery ping pong balls racing towards me. Glittery explosions illuminating the neighborhood, reflections of prosperity and good fortune on slick facades. The sound of an entire city launching fireworks ricocheting and echoing through the deep canyons of the city. The sound. The sound was so robust, teetering between celebration and battlefront.

At one point I was skyping with my sister. I wanted her to hear the absolute insanity that started 6 hours earlier. I counted 8 different shows going on at the same time. She kept saying ‘take a video, take a video.’ If only I had started my video a few minutes earlier… in all of the excitement I couldn’t find my camera and was fumbling when I did. So enjoy the tail end of 8 rooftop firework shows, going on at the same time in my neighborhood:

Chinese New Year is largest human migratory movement in the world. Families leave the city and go back to the villages where they are from. This collection of photographs from The Big Picture is amazing.

Fireworks. Dragons. Lions. Flower markets. Red lanterns. Red envelops filled with money! Kumquat trees. Paper cut window decorations. Banners hung over and next to the door. Whole fish and dumplings. It’s such a beautiful holiday.