- "it's not paranoia when they really ARE out to get you."
folks have been wondering if there was an update to my 'situation' and unfortunately there isn't much to add except that it has only become worse, mostly in the sense of cumulative stress as the deadline for renewing my residence visa approaches. however as the quote above implies, there's also now little question we are pawns in a game where corrupt officials expect us to pay extortion money to get our lives back.
in china it's easy to be targeted as a westerner and to be fair, this can often lead to advantages and perks, especially when it comes to live appearances. but in our case the tables have turned, ugly. the agents that asked us to perform a few songs to celebrate the opening of a shop in a new outdoor mall are rather much closer to the authorities in question than we could ever be. most goons do tend to know and stick to their own i suppose. and though they are in fact guilty of 'hiring' us and holding an event without any sort of proper permits, somehow they've managed to pass this criminality on to us.
'perfect pitch' • qingdao, china
© MARC MONTEBELLO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
[click on image to enlarge]
Labels: 2012, china, editorial, photographer, photography, photos, qingdao
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