Double take: Pigtails in Beijing

When I am out in a city, I always try to look for quirky things that put a smile on my face. When I was on assignment in Beijing in July, I packed my days with as much activity as possible. If I wasn't shooting photographs for a specific story, I would hit the streets looking for pictures to tell the story of life in the fast-changing Chinese capital. I noticed a woman (above, at right) with tightly wound pigtails waiting at a bus stop along a busy street and thought it was an interesting slice-of-life photograph. It was one of hundreds of pictures I shot that day.

Later during my stay in Beijing, I was walking through a park near Houhai Lake in the heart of old Beijing when I spotted a cute little Shih Tzu with its hair pulled back in pigtails. My mind instantly went back to the photo of the girl, and I chuckled at the thought of seeing them together. I combined the photos, and the effect was just what I hoped for: After a year of tsunamis, hurricanes, and war, I figured it was good to have a laugh.