Reader Poll (Vault) And The Chinese Drinking Contest

Okay team, with politics in a mid-August/pre-Convention slowdown and Obama heading for Oahu, or some such, should The BAG do a 10%, 50% or 90% turn toward the visual politics of the Olympics?

(If you have energetic pics to suggest — with or without takes, by the way — send to: openbag AT bagnews dot com.)  And let’s hear about particular shots or themes below.

Above, by the way, is an image taken by a talented young photographer who has been working in China by the name of Rian Dundon.  Although not an Olympic event, the image documents a drinking contest in Wuhan in 2007.  You might be interested in Rian’s series “Between Love And Duty: Chinese Youth Culture.“  What attracts me to the image, and Rian’s work, is how expressly it defies (and, captures the defiance of) the Chinese preoccupation with appearance.

…Now, let’s see what NBC does about that.

Rian is in Beijing right now, documenting the mood, security, nationalism, displacement and the sanitizing of the city.  With any luck, we might be hearing from him.

Rian Dundon website.

(image: © Rian Dundon. 2007)