Li River Comorant Training Day

     Sadly, fishing with the use of cormorants is a dying cultural practice. Along the Li River (pronounced “Lee” in Chinese) in Guilin, China only a handful of older men still practice the trade surrounded by the magnificent setting of the karst mountains. While I was on the riverbank photographing the setting sun, one of the men was out on a thin bamboo raft with two birds. As he worked, he talked to me about how he was there to train a younger bird (in the raft’s bow) in the craft of catching fish for him. The older, and larger, bird just in front of him would be used to help instruct the younger one learn by example the tools of the trade. He said it was a process that would take some time for the young bird to achieve full proficiency. For me, the fisherman, raft, and birds created a wonderful visual story that would be rich in interpretation for any viewer.