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Photo Library / Field Journal

Cida,
in Fragments

These are images I took when I was not only collecting data. They matter because they keep Cida from becoming only a topic: roads, meals, relatives, animals, fields, weather, and the details that stayed after the interviews ended.

Road through the mountains at dusk — The road back through the mountains.

Selfie in Cida — Back in Cida.

Children carrying nets on a village road — The road by the place where we catch crabs.

Small dog in the grass — Cida’s dogs do not seem especially afraid of people.

Barbecue over a charcoal fire — Barbecue in my aunt’s courtyard.

Mountain stream — A summer stream.

Two older women standing in front of a home — My grandmother and a friend of more than sixty years.

Person working in a village field — Work continues between houses, roads, and hillsides.

Rows of strawberry plants — Strawberry season.

Large frog on concrete — Found nearby.

Orange flowers on a gray wall — Flowers on a neighbour’s outer wall.

Bowl of beef noodles — Lunch.

People walking up a narrow hill path — Walking uphill with friends and children.

Woman standing in a strawberry field — Among the strawberry rows.

Crescent moon over buildings at sunset — Evening.

Village landscape and mountains — Fields, houses, mountains.

Peacock behind a mesh enclosure — A neighbour’s peacock.

Chickens in a fenced yard — The chickens from the yard I describe in my essay.

Large pig in a concrete pigsty — The pig from that same opening scene.

Yellow flowers in a hillside field — Winter light, yellow flowers.

Mahjong table — An ordinary evening around the table.

Hands reaching toward a barbecue grill — One grill, many chopsticks.

Rice fields below a village — Rice fields below the village.

Children of the village — Children of the village.

Packing fruit into boxes — Packing fruit.

Courtyard after the rain — After the rain.

A family picking strawberries — Strawberry season, with family.

A child carrying a basket — A child carrying a basket.