Ping Chu, Director of Aveda Taiwan and owner of Non-zero restaurant takes a photo with his iPhone

At the moment I’m sitting on quite a few different photo stories and projects that are in various stages of completion. Other than one I started shooting this morning, the rest are just waiting for publication and the go ahead from clients before I can share any of the photographs here. At least one should be ready to show later this week or early next week and another is not far behind that. In the meantime, I’ve been shooting a lot of cell phone stuff using the Vignette App on Android (which I’ll post later this week) and tidying up my archives from earlier this year. Today I’m going to share a few photographs from Taidong county in the east of Taiwan. I was down there in January for Monocle magazine and these are some of the images that didn’t make the final cut. Either they didn’t fit the story, a different image was chosen, the entire section of article didn’t end up being written or in a couple of cases, they were late night, high-ISO shots that weren’t completely connected to the story. All in all, I shot about 80GB of photographs of which 28 single images ended up being used. Here are a few of the more than 2000 that ended up on the cutting room floor.

Anthropology professor turned organic farmer Fu Jiang.

Left - Award winning chef Chen Yao-chung of the Ce'po tribe. Right - cafe owners Jay and A-Rain, and chocolatier A-da

English artitst Tim Joel

Left - Singer / guitarist Xiao Long. Right - Sugar Cafe manager Hawai

Barbecuing wild boar with Amis aboriginal people in Taidong.

For the aspiring people photographer, one of the most difficult tasks is often finding willing subjects to photograph. For residents of Taiwan, that’s not such a problem, as a quick trip to Taipei’s Martyrs Shrine shows. This week on 5, we look at some shots from the aforementioned location.

Military Police Guard at Taipei Martyrs Shrine

Built in 1969 on the slopes of Qing Mountain above the Keelung River, the Martyrs Shrine is dedicated to the 390 000 soldiers who gave their lives in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and subsequent establishment of the Republic of China; the Sino-Japanese war (Pacific World War II) and the Chinese civil war that lead to the retreat of the nationalist forces to Taiwan from mainland China.

What makes it great for photographers is the hourly changing of the guard when an elaborate ceremony is performed. Between these times however, it gets even better. The military police guards make great subjects, especially for the novice people photographer, because they cannot move. They stand as statues, and while you’re unable to change their position and pose, you do have a great opportunity to photograph them.

So if you’re taking your first steps in travel and people photography, or even if you’re not, the Taipei Martyrs Shrine makes a great destination for a couple of hours shooting.

Military Police Guard at Taipei Martyrs Shrine

Military Police Guard at Taipei Martyrs Shrine

Military Police Guard at Taipei Martyrs Shrine

Military Police Guard at Taipei Martyrs Shrine

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As a travel and documentary photographer, I regularly come into contact with a wide variety of people from all walks of life. The more I travel and learn, the more it reinforces the idea that people everywhere are essentially kind, generous and willing to give of themselves. Stopping to take the time to talk with people reveals some great stories and everyday heroes.

This man is one such individual. Friendly, generous, selfless and patient, he was happy to be repeatedly photographed while he told us a few stories. He is one of Taiwan’s indigenous people living on the east coast. Operating a small market stand in a sea side night market, he crafts aboriginal jewelery and handicrafts to sell to tourists.

As well as making and selling handicrafts, he’s also a member of an Aboriginal dance troupe and a puppetmaster, offering short, impromptu puppet shows for anyone interested and dancing in a regular show.

This is not all he does however. During Taiwan’s long, hot summer, he works as a volunteer lifeguard on the beaches of the East Coast. Scores of people owe their lives to this mans generosity – in one day alone last summer he saved 30 people from drowning.

It’s people like this that serve to remind everyone that everyday heroes can be found everywhere.

If you have any stories you’d like to share, feel free to leave them in the comments.