Vending on the edge: Paris/Vientiene

It is a hard life, with no room for bad luck. Any of dozens of variables can spell disaster for a street vendor: spoilage, bad weather, theft, voracious pests, failing health. So many people around the world sell inexpensive items on the street. Generally, their profits are small, but so too are investment and overhead; only a fortunate and skilled few do more than scrape by.

In the top photo, in a street market in Paris, the vendor likely bought the fruits wholesale and is reselling them for a small profit.

Below, these men and women in 1982 China are probably the farmers who grew the oranges and whatever is in the small paper bags. And there they sit on a cold winter day, side by side, all selling the same items. How would you choose whom to buy from?

I imagine if such trade still exists in China today, the beautiful hand-made baskets would be replaced with gaudily colored plastic ones.

It’s a really grainy photo (cheap camera, bad photographer), so don’t miss the kid (close-up below) gaping at me, the weird foreigner, a rare sight in rural 1982 China.

I just saw an exhibit of photos by Weegee at the International Center for Photography. He often has these little surprises—Easter eggs—somewhere in his best shots. And when I catch them, I wonder if he was surprised, as I was by spotting this kid, when he saw the developed photo.

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