It looks to me as though this lady is doing her washing up in the river flowing past her door – Suzhou, China, 1991. Behind the tree with the flame-orange leaves, a neighbor looks on.
Back in the mid-1980's I worked in south africa and got to visit the ‘Big Hole' – the old diamond mine in Kimberley. When diamonds were discovered, different miners staked their claims and each dug their own claim at their own rate. The result was this weird landscape of column like structures until eventually they amalgamated their operations into one big company.
When you look at the houses by the river in this photo and in yesterday's you see the same effect in play. Each landowner has built to their own needs and resources on their parcel of land resulting in a wide variety of structures and shapes.
I'm left wondering what used to stand in the space behind the lady washing the red bowl. I suspect at one time or another this was also a house – the end of the wall near the center of the image looks as though it could be a door frame.
I'm also left thinking that the interiors of these house would be pretty dark, particularly on the lower floors, given the relatively small windows.
As with the houses in yesterday's photo, I'm guessing that flood insurance here is impossible to come by.
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