The banks of the River Ganges in India, at the city of Varanasi, is known for the ceremonial bathing many Hindus do there. There are sections along the bank, however, bustling with people engaged in all manner of activities.
This photo shows a young man shaving a child’s head. One woman, presumably the child’s mother, holds him in her lap. Another, older lady, perhaps the child’s grandmother, looks on.
For me, this picture is all about the expressions of the four people in the center of the action and the center of the photo.
Photo: Paul Cooper, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報記者古德謙攝
First of all, the child. I assume he is not sleeping, although he appears to be very calm, especially given that a complete stranger is shaving his head. The man looks quite relaxed, too: one can imagine he is quite experienced. He is holding the child’s head in a stable grip, fingers evenly splayed, while his right hand works with the razor.
The two women, though, look anything but relaxed. The mother appears the calmer of the two, and yet she is still keeping a close eye on proceedings. The grandmother looks to be quite tense, her eyes squinting slightly, her mouth locked in an apprehensive grimace, as if she can barely look but knows she needs to watch carefully.
And it’s no wonder: however experienced the young man may be, he’s not using a safety razor. That’s a straight razor he’s holding to the infant’s head.
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
印度恆河畔的瓦拉納西城以眾多印度教徒進行的沐浴儀式聞名。沿岸有許多地方擠滿了人,從事各式各樣的活動。
這張照片中,一個年輕人正在幫小孩剃頭髮。一位女子,或許是這小孩的母親,把小孩抱在她腿上。另一位像是這孩子的(外)祖母的較年長婦女則在一旁看著。
對我來說,這張照片的重點是畫面中心這四個人在活動進行中的表情與姿態。
我猜這小孩不是睡著的,但是他不哭鬧,乖乖地讓一位陌生人幫他剃頭。這年輕人也顯得一派輕鬆:想必他很有經驗。他穩穩抓著小孩的頭,手指平均張開,右手則拿著剃刀工作著。
然而這兩位婦女看來卻絕非一派輕鬆。小孩的母親看來比較沒那麼擔心,但她還是密切注意著一舉一動。而祖母看起來就很緊張了,她微瞇著眼,她的嘴因擔心而扭曲著,好像她不敢看,但還是得小心注意著。
這也難怪:無論這剃頭的人多麼有經驗,他用的不是安全剃刀。他手上拿著用來刮嬰兒頭部的是一把直剃刀。
(台北時報編譯林俐凱譯)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110