The One and Only

At the edge of the factory district in the city of Gaziantep, this man, and dozens like him, have all set up table-top shops that line the sidewalk. They come here every weekend to sell their personal collection of hidden treasures in hope of turning a profit. For this man, everything on the table is about a dollar, give or take a Türk Lira. Except for the lemons. The lemons are for lunch.

In the far north of Chile, near the borders of Peru and Bolivia, the small, isolated village of Putre rests high in the Andes near the foot of the Taapaca Volcano. Though the Chilean government is working hard to transform the village into a base station for exploring the Lauca National Park, Putre has historically been home to a small indigenous population dedicated to high-altitude pastural living.

This man is happy to see the village around him grow and prosper, and even though the drying climate in northern Chile makes pastural living harder than it has ever been, he chooses to live the life his parents nurtured for him, and their parents before them.

This man runs the most important business on Recto Avenue in metro Manila. He designs, manufactures and engraves awards. But these are not just any awards, they’re the ones with your name on them. The awards for all the recognition you believe you deserve. The awards no one else will give you.

In the north-western Laos, the city of Luang Namtha is just 60 kilometres from the southern border of China. There is now and always has been a large ethnic Chinese population in the city and surrounding mountains. Parents of young children, not wanting them to lose their heritage or miss out on new opportunities, send their kids to this Laotian-Chinese school where the two nations’ flags are displayed right in front, and where this man is always here, keeping everything running on time.

This woman lives in Vanadzor, the capital city of Lori province, and this is her shop near the city centre. She doesn’t pretend to be an expert on cleaning products, this is just a good line of business for her that doesn’t need a clever pitch or a hard sell. All she really needs to make it work are two things: products and personality - and she’s got both.

The fishermen in Batangas never stop working. They’re either out on the waters of Batangas Bay setting out or reeling in their nets, or they’re at home repairing them for the next day of fishing. This man and all the other fishermen here have been at it since they were young boys. They love this life.

This man runs his own shoe repair business in the old market district of Sanlıurfa. His shop is roughly the size of a closet, just big enough to house his industrial sewing machine that he brings inside at night, and carefully rolls out again every morning when he starts work.

For the past 50 odd years this is the one and only sewing machine he has ever owned, and with it, he has earned his living and supported his family and become one of the many shopkeepers that help keep this old city market an essential part of modern-day life.