Your ancestry speaks to your background, but what relevance does that have to your current life, your worldview and your family legacy? I’ve discovered that the process of making really epic photos is a great way to explore one’s family legacy and, in doing so, help us determine our place in this world.

The Human Condition is underpinned by the search for self. But to truly know ourselves we need to better understand our place in this world and our life's true purpose. Making epic photos that celebrate our ancestry, how our forebears lived and our cultural origins, helps us explore our family legacy.

Historical photos and home movies; family stories, tall and true; and mythology enable us to trace our past and gain a better understanding of where we’ve come from.

This gives us a base from which to determine our own identity. That which we accept and that which we choose to discard.

Once we’ve come to terms with who we are and from where we’ve come we can approach the road ahead with greater confidence and clarity. And in our modern, contemporary world clarity may be what we need most.

The future is, however, an abstract notion.

But don’t let that worry you, as it’s clearly out of your control. Just stay confident in who you are and what your purpose in life is.

All that’s required then is to make the most of each and every day in the knowledge that, if you stay true to your purpose, the future will unfold as it should. 

Making Epic Photos In Hongcun Village, China

I made all the photos in this post in the extremely picturesque village of Hongcun in Anhui Province in Eastern China.

It’s a classic village which, due to exceptional preservation, has retained much of the architecture, planning and stylistic attributes of a feudal Chinese village.

Together with the village of Xidi, Hongcun became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.

Established in 1131 by Wang Wen, a general in the Southern Song dynasty, the architecture and carvings of the approximately 150 residences date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties and are said to be amongst the best in China.

Most streets in Hongcun are built alongside one of two water sources and a 400 year old waterway connects each household in the village to these water sources.

No wonder Hongcun has become such a popular setting for TV shows and motion picture films such as the classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Hongcun village is simply a sublime place to visit and I had no trouble producing the epic photos you see in this post.

But, be warned, many hundreds of tourists visit Hongcun on a daily basis. With this in mind I arrived late in the day, just as the last tour bus was leaving.

I moved quickly as daylight was fading, but also because I didn’t think it was appropriate for a Western tourist to be hanging out and making photos at a time of day when locals are probably expecting to be left in peace.

I’m really glad to have visited Hongcun and extremely pleased with the quality of photos I created during my short visit to this incredibly picturesque Chinese village.

My motivation for visiting the village was to make some really great photos which would resonate with ethnic Chinese, from all over the world, in their search to honor and preserve their own family legacy.

What’s Your Place In This World?

What's your own worldview and where and how do you fit into the world around you? Despite a range of hardships and disadvantages, we live in a most beautiful world.

Beauty is accessible to us through improved transportation, better tourist infrastructure and the ways in which modern technology allows us to appreciate the world beyond our own backyard.

The internet has allowed us to connect in a way that simply wasn’t possible for our forebears. You could say that the internet has brought the exotic to the suburbs.

Indeed, we’re able to learn so much more about the world and its people without even leaving the comfort of our lounge chair.

Travel Photography Allows Us To Explore Our Family Legacy

Nonetheless, knowledge is not enough. Wisdom is the marriage of knowledge and experience and that’s why travel is, to my mind, the best education there is.

Not that we need to travel the world to experience beauty or tap into the meaning of life.

Being mindful and receptive to the world around you, even if it’s only while undertaking a simple neighborhood walk, can be both educational and inspirational.

So, regardless of whether we’re immersed in a spectacular midnight sun cruise on the Ilulissat Icefjord in Greenland or by making unique pictures closer to home, beauty is accessible wherever and whenever we seek it out.

Ultimately, I believe our ability to actually see, appreciate and document the beauty of the world around us, wherever we are, brings us to a better understanding of our own identity.

Photography really helps us achieve this greater understanding of ourselves by cultivating a more harmonious relationship with nature and the sublime.

And the creation of epic photos will help you communicate your own, unique identity and worldview to a larger audience.

Culture Is About More Than Just Food

This photo of a butcher shop in Hongcun village suggests an authentic village lifestyle. I made the image while an elderly woman was washing a fish in a large village pond, immediately behind me.

Food is a common way by which many of us are introduced to cultures from around the world. But, while important, there’s far more to cultural than food.

What’s more, I feel our national and cultural identify is less important than our position as world citizens.

However, I also see a need to celebrate our cultural background which is based, largely, upon our origins and the history of our forebears.

All the more reason to embark on a travel adventure; make epic photos; and organize and share those images to preserve your family legacy.

Some dedicated research will help uncover the stories of those that have come before you.

Likewise, if cultural traditions remain strong in your own family, you would have soaked up a great many traditions around the dinner table, during important celebrations and, possibly, while participating in religious practices over the years.

And of course there’s sport. Is the game you follow the national sport of the country in which you live, or has your support for a particular game been shaped by the passion with which one or more of your parents follow that game?

There are many ways in which our ancestry can influence and inform our own identity.

Nonetheless, it seems to me that the best way to understand your cultural heritage is to spend time in the country of your ancestors.

Assuming you can afford to do so and that there’s a likelihood of relatively safe travel, I'd recommend this opportunity to all.

Make Sure You Add Spice To The Melting Pot

Of course in countries that are great melting pots, like Australia, it's also good for other Aussie's, indigenous and otherwise, to visit countries outside of their own cultural origins.

After all, to establish a truly homogenous society we need to understand and, where appropriate, embrace cultural practices outside our own.

Surely this kind of growth is a central component to our ever evolving local culture.

Take, for example, folk from Chinese origins. They’re an increasingly significant and important part of the cultural mix in present day Australia.

I’ve been fortunate to have traveled and photographed in China on four occasions. I even made it to Mt Everest base camp, on the Tibetan side, way back in 1988.

My own, limited perceptions of what it might mean to be Chinese are probably more developed than they would be for the average Anglo/Irish Aussie.

And that’s because of the travel experiences I’ve had, both fair and foul, and the long-term friends I’ve made during my travels to China.

Hongcun Village Represents Authentic China

The above photo was made, at dusk, in Hongcun village. To me, it represents an authentic China, albeit a very much idealized one.

However, in the context of this post, I’m hoping the nostalgic nature of these pictures will motivate people to explore their own origins and, in doing so, help cement their family legacy.

I remember taking the above photo. The overcast weather illuminated the scene with a lovely, soft light revealing a great deal of detail.

But what pleases me most is how the mix of warm and cool colored light, together with the strong shapes and textures, add a sense of drama to what would otherwise be a very serene image.

Isn’t it interesting how color, light, shape and texture work together with near windless conditions to produce a photo that suggests balance, harmony and tranquility.

It’s that mix of serenity and drama, and the visual tension that duality creates, that underpins epic photos such as this.

Hongcun village has become hugely popular and, as such, the notion of an authentic Chinese village is something of a myth.

Nonetheless, the tourists bring money, as does the fact that the village has been used as a location in many local TV shows and films.

Residents are prospering and, outside of the busy tourists times, activity in the village slows down and the seemingly idyllic life for the people of Hongcun returns.

It was fascinating for me to witness this sudden transition from tourist site to authentic local village.

Photography straddles the line between a detailed, documentary observance of our world and the mythology that’s created by the way we interpret and communicate our experiences.

We determine the truth of the world around us as both an accumulation of facts and through the way we respond, on an emotional level, to those places, events and relationships we experience.

My contention is that folks tend to let facts get in the way of a good truth. Given that those words can be confused with each other, let me say the following:

Let your own journeys, whether from the comfort of an armchair or through travels abroad, allow you to explore your ancestry and bring you to a better understanding of your own unique identity and purpose in life.

And if those journeys involve the creation of epic photos that enable you to better understand and preserve your own family legacy, then all power to you.

I'd like to dedicate the photos in this post to my dear friend, Zhang Shu Lan, whom I met during my first visit to China way back in 1988.

Glenn Guy, Travel Photography Guru