Nana Chen Interview, Part III

Nana ChenIt took a little waiting for, but it did finally come. And then, inevitably, I missed it! But fret not, patient e-Margonauts, I'll not let you likewise miss it. Here's the skinny... Former e-Marginalia Travel Editor, Nana Chen, was interviewed over at Wayne Yang's blog. If you missed the opportunity to get to know this stellar photographer/writer/painter, then you better start clicking. Here are the links you need: Nana's photos have inspired many, and her interviews with notable travelers consistently capture honest, frank snapshots of the sorts of adventurers that fascinate us so. It's refreshing to have the magnifying glass turned on her for a change! Several memorable passages lingered in my mind after reading Yang's new posting:
"In moving so much, I’ve come to long for things that hold still, that give me a sense of stability. I know this is unrealistic, however. Life is not still and wanting it to be so is such a contradiction... [W]hen I finish something, be it a photograph, painting or story, it is there to return to."

"I’m merely a gatherer of words, sentences and expressions that, on good days, can be retrieved when I need them..."

"Shyness has a great deal to do with how I’ve come to paint, write and photograph: the writing keeps me safe in my room and the photography forces and dares me to abandon it."

This is the sort of candor Nana elicits from her interviewees. It's our privilege to experience the same from her.