Photo of the Month (August 2026 Edition): Ephemeral
Choosing a photo that represented my brief stay in a small corner of southern China was an immense challenge, much like everything else there. I was in Jinghong, the capital of the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, for a conference that took place at a hotel right next to the Gaozhuang neighborhood’s night market. Like other night markets in China, it is affectionately known as the “Starlight” Night Market, because of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lights that are switched on after sunset.
Amid stages with musical performances, fruit, seafood, mushrooms, food, clothing, restaurants, and bars, more than three thousand stalls offer a little of everything the world has to offer, particularly from the world of the Dai people, one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People’s Republic of China and the predominant culture and population of Xishuangbanna. Dai communities also live in neighboring countries such as Myanmar and Laos, which share borders with Xishuangbanna, as well as in Vietnam and Thailand, with which they share linguistic, cultural, religious, ethical, aesthetic, and culinary similarities.
Amid so many people, sounds, colors, smells, and flavors, I found my photo of the month in the place I least expected. Wandering around after the conference activities had ended, I reached the market through an entrance that offered a panoramic view of the area. It was only natural to spend some time photographing from there, trying to portray the vastness of the market contrasted with the city’s recent, modern, and enormous buildings. But a group of people gathered around one particular stall caught my attention. At the time, I didn’t quite understand what was happening there, but the light, the texture, the writing, the fabrics in the background, and the way each person was positioned in relation to my viewing angle drew me in.
I walked over to the stall and realized that it was a place where temporary tattoos were made, a conclusion confirmed later by using apps to translate the writing in the photograph. It then struck me as a remarkably precise metaphor for what I was experiencing in China. The tattoos made there lasted only 7 to 15 days, a very short time just like my trip. But while my experience in China was ephemeral on the skin, like the product of that stall, it will remain etched into my life forever, like a “real” tattoo.