Many developing and backward countries still retain the custom of “head-loading”. No matter whether men and women, young or old, food or goods, all of them are put on the head, the picture is amazing. In Bangladesh, people carry coal and masonry directly on the top of the basket, while Nepalese women use the head straps to support the baskets filled with sand and gravel. Seeing such a picture, people can’t help but ask, so it won’t be on the spine and neck. Come to hurt? Josephine Lau, a Hong Kong photographer who set foot in Nepal last year, recently published a collection of women, "Women, Behind," about the many problems facing women in Asia. When talking about the current situation of women carrying bricks in Nepal, she asked, "Is it not a cart?" Is it efficient?"

Before the establishment of the publishing company and gallery Eastpro last year, Josephine was the first Chinese vice president of the US toy company Hasbro, and photography was just a hobby. The umbrella revolution five years ago made her determined to buy a camera, record the sport, and she likes to travel, and she will not leave her hands when she is traveling. In recent years, she has often set foot in relatively poor and backward areas such as Nepal and Cambodia, not only to visit places of interest, but also to penetrate the rural areas where tourists rarely set foot.

Man's hand is empty and is an exploitation

There is a saying that "poverty limits your imagination", but in some places you can't imagine poverty. The health and environmental problems in Nepal are very serious. "Air pollution is very obvious. When I stayed in the local area, I always felt that my throat was very dry and very hard. It felt more exaggerated than Beijing." Children walking on the street and elderly people working in the factory are everywhere. It can be seen that the local water supply is insufficient, girls have to travel long distances to wash their clothes in places where there is water, and women are forced to shower in public places with water without dignity; what shocks her the most is women who transport masonry or gravel. "I saw a woman wearing a flip-flop and carrying a gravel passing by with an empty man. If a man continues to move forward, it is very common in the local area." These pictures are all included in her. In the photography collection.

According to Josephine, in Nepal, there are more women working harder than men. They use a cloth or tie to support the back basket. It is not a normal food, but a heavy object such as masonry and gravel. There are at least ten or twenty kilograms in the basket, but only a modest salary is paid. Since the head is subject to gravity, it is not unreasonable to walk low to stay in balance and become an alternative "low-headed". Josephine believes that this is a kind of exploitation. He carries such heavy objects day after day. It will cause health problems for a long time. A cart can solve problems and protect the head and spine.

Recalling the old West Pier, "There are decades behind here."

In areas such as India and Bangladesh, the top load is a unique local landscape. Some studies have pointed out that this method is more efficient and easier to balance. Some people have argued that it is inconvenient to use a handcart for a long time. Josephine disapproves. "I think if employers provide trolleys, they will use them and they will be more efficient." Living in the West Ring, she remembered that there was still a lot of hard work in the West Ring Pier in the 1960s and 1970s. They walked along the board from the boat to the pier and used the flat load on their shoulders. It was already very hard. "I feel like this. Behind for decades.

This behind is not only behind the times, but also behind the patriarchal society. The status of local women is very low. The problem of patriarchal patriarchal is severe. In remote mountainous areas, the phenomenon of being out of school is more obvious. Many girls who are out of school have to take care of younger ones. Younger sister. Hong Kong has compulsory education, but for local youth, especially girls, it is not taken for granted. Josephine believes that many Asian women don't know how to speak out, they can only walk silently, even if they can smile when facing the camera, but who knows the sadness behind them? Her lens, invisibly, became an vocal tool that informed the world of their stories.

A local woman smiles under the photographer's lens and does not care that the soil on her back is getting heavier and heavier.

Nepalese women often have to travel long distances and they have become accustomed to it.

Not only refer to women who are behind the times, they also lag behind the patriarchal society.