China Update #4 – Jinan 2 – Opening Ceremonies

Early the next morning I set out to photograph and document the convention center before people started to arrive, because this is the first PPA convention in China, and the very first PhotoAsia — four years in the making!

Here is the place all ready for people to arrive!

I walked out to the main gate to photograph the guard…

…as well as various landmarks that surrounded the convention center like this pavilion in the distance (above) in one direction and this statute (below) in another direction.

By that time people started arriving and as I tried to get this image of me in front of the convention center.

I had only a short 3 minute walk back to the hotel, but I got stuck in this location for about 45 minutes because someone recognized me and wanted a photo with me.  That got other people’s attention and within moments I was mobbed by people on all sides wanting to photograph me  and wanting me to sign their shirts.  I have to admit, this really made me feel awesome!  This is just one quick shot of the crowd at the end as I was trying to leave and get to the opening ceremonies.  There were still people wanting photos with me, but I didn’t want to be late to the ceremony of which I was apart!

We had a quick welcome meeting with the VIP’s in a smaller room where flowers were pinned on us by Chinese women in traditional dress.  These women then escorted us to the main hall, the location of the opening ceremonies.  This photo is coming down the escalator towards the main hall.  The women in the red traditional dresses are our escorts.

As we approached, everyone began to take our picture.  So fun!

And here is PPA President, Ron Nichols up on the stage welcoming everyone to PPA Photo Asia.

Here’s me backstage with my flower pinned on, and wearing half of my second custom made Chinese suit.  That is also one of the custom made dress shirts too.

The opening ceremonies opened up the print exhibit.  This is just half of the exhibit, and only the accepted prints.  If I remember right, there were entries from over 25,000 photographers from around the world, and I won a Gold Medal!  I’ll talk more on this when I talk about the awards ceremony in a later post.

As you can see, all of us got mobbed for autographs and photos.  Here is Ron Nichols getting tons of attention.

And here is one of my photographs in the exhibit.

And I loved it when these women came up and asked to pose for a photo with me, so I made sure I got one with my camera too.  🙂

And I loved this moment when the beautiful editor of PhotoWorld Magazine came up and asked for a photo with me.  She later did a one-on-one interview too for her magazine.  That was one of the highlights of the trip.  She gave me a copy of a past issue and the cover photo was incredible!  It is a fabulous and beautiful magazine and I felt honored to be asked to be in it.

After the opening ceremonies, I had time for a quick and fast lunch before going off to speak — the first speaker at the first PhotoAsia.  I’ll have more on that in the next post!