Chinese China

Chinese China

Chinese China In The News

A New Benchmark in Books about China

If you have been paying even the slightest attention to the news the past decade, you will know that China is poised to become the world's premier superpower within the next half-century. The United States is in debt to China $755 billion dollars. America outsources over half of its labor to China. And a clear majority of products consumed by Americans are made in China.

For all intents and purposes, China owns America.

And herein lies the comedic irony of it all: Only 4 major cities in China are competitive with American cities: Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing. The rest of the country has stagnated at either pre-1980 conditions or pre-1880 conditions. This is no exaggeration.  Moreover, less than 10% of Chinese wear shoes on a daily basis, less than 1% drive cars, only 25% of the present population have graduated high school, and over 50% of the people can be officially classified as "impoverished."

If you refuse to believe these or any statistics, or if you are wary of politicians' words and journalistic hyperbole, then I implore you to instead pick up a copy of the new photography book CHINA: Portrait of a People to see (as opposed to read) for yourself what real China looks like. Short of going there, this book is literally the next best thing.

CHINA: Portrait of a People dominates its genre – a photography book focusing expressly on the people of China. Rather than thinking of China as an entity or a government or a seething mass of crowds or tourist sites or a news soundbite, for the first time in photographic history this book reveals Chinese people as…people!

The book was authored by photographer Tom Carter, an American expat who fled the dwindling economy under Bush and landed in the first country offering American citizens jobs when America wasn't – China.  Carter admits in his book that he had no interest in China prior to arriving, nor did he have any photographic experience. 5 years later he is considered an authority on traveling in China and has authored what reviewers are calling "the most comprehensive book of photography on modern China ever published by a single author."  Tom Carter is THE accidental tourist.

The book is a gargantuan 640 pages, probably the thickest photo book to ever hit the market; Barnes and Noble must be cringing at the shelf space they will have to make for it. But with a retail price under $20.00 on Amazon (including free shipping), it's a steal.  The pages are slick, full-color and consist of minimalist yet profoundly informative captions explaining exactly who/what it is we are seeing. All 33 provinces are given their own chapter, historic background, map and no less than 20 images each. Encyclopedia Britannica eat your heart out.

CHINA: Portrait of a People differs from most photo books about China in that Carter was not afraid to approach and befriend the Chinese during his 4-year residence in the PRC. As such, Carter is able to reveal by way of his camera the different facial features of the Chinese as he makes his way from Northeast to Southwest China. Anyone who ever said "all Chinese look the same" would be ashamed of themselves after viewing this book. The Smithsonian might want to consider running an exhibit of Carter's work to enlighten Americans of this startling fact.

The idea of this book, however, is less to educate and elucidate the west about China than to implore us to go there ourselves and see with our own round eyes how the actual country contrasts with the way it is reported in the news and in statistics.  Yes, the country is impoverished, but oh how beautiful poverty can be: cylindrical rammed-earth dwellings called Tulou nestled high atop glistening terraced rice paddies. 2,000 year-old wooden homes perched on stilts above the jade-colored rapids of the Wu River. Jungle-dwelling ethnic minorities clad in hand-embroidered gowns living exactly as they have for thousands of years. Runny-nosed Tibetan students beaming with pride because they have been given a new pencil.

Carter says that his objective in photographing China was entirely neutral, and this shines through in his pictures. The book is a perfect balance of the good, the bad and the, well, less attractive side of the People's Republic. For those of you whom have grown tired of Photoshopped photos or overly-dramatic black-and-white shots, CHINA: Portrait of a People will refresh you with its raw, real imagery. Some pictures are grainy, some are fuzzy, and yet all these "flaws" compliment the book perfectly.

For those readers who are fans of literature by or about the Chinese, this book is a necessary companion. From The Good Earth by Pearl Buck to Maarten Troost's Lost on Planet China, having CHINA: Portrait of a People at your side will serve to enhance your reading experience. For those travelers preparing to visit China this summer, a copy of Carter's book will give you a better idea of the places suggested in Lonely Planet.

No matter what, before formulating your opinion of the Chinese or preparing for their impending takeover of America, owning CHINA: Portrait of a People is essential to learning about their culture. Carter's unfiltered lens allows that to happen like no other book ever published on the subject.

Tom Carter's CHINA: Portrait of a People is available in all American bookshops.

About the Author

Jesse Alcott is a born-again Sinologist. He hates writing and only does so when inspired.

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