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Laddar... CHINA: Portrait of a Peopleav Tom Carter
   Ingen/inga Det finns inga diskussioner på LibraryThing om den här boken.   Chris_Thrall | Apr 18, 2012 | 
 In China: Portrait of a People, Tom Carter shows us that there are actually dozens of Chinas. The American photojournalist spent two years traveling 35,000 miles through every province of China by bus, boat, train, mule, motorcycle, and on foot. Part of the strength of this book is its independent spirit. It’s not a travel guide showing China dressed in its Sunday best, or a photojournalistic approach documenting the underbelly of the country, but rather a peek at the sights Carter has seen and a corrective to both the glowing promotional images and negative Western media shots that we are all familiar with. For instance, if you were to make a pilgrimage to Mount Tai for the sunrise you would likely be one of many thousands doing the same and this is the image Carter presents – hordes of people dressed in green army overcoats – not the typical picture postcard view.  Getting a full picture of China – a vast country with an enormous population, a place that is experiencing sweeping cultural and economic changes – is, of course, impossible. But Tom Carter comes close. … It’s a remarkable book, compact yet bursting with images that display the diversity of a nation of 56 ethnic groups.
The Beijing Olympics focused the world's eyes on China. But despite increased tourism and rampant foreign investment, the cultural distance between China and the West remains as vast as the oceans that separate them. The Middle Kingdom is still relatively unknown by Westerners. China is in fact made up of 33 distinct regions populated by 56 ethnic groups -- and photojournalist Tom Carter has visited them all. This little book is a visual tribute to the People's Republic of China, with an ardent emphasis on the People. Inga biblioteksbeskrivningar kunde hittas. |
LibraryThing-författareTom Carter är en LibraryThing-författare, en författare som lägger upp sitt personliga bibliotek på LibraryThing. Pågående diskussionerIngen/ingaPopulära omslag
 Google Books — Laddar...GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)915.100222History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography of and travel in Asia China and KoreaKlassifikation enligt LCBetygMedelbetyg: (4.5)
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I first came across Tom's work through his travel writing while doing some background research for EATING SMOKE - a book about the time I spent `roughing' it in Hong Kong and China. Not only did Tom's unrestrained generosity and supercharged positivity towards people and place change the course of my life, but upon purchasing CHINA: PORTRAIT OF A PEOPLE it became immediately apparent how this philanthropic aura extends to the subjects he captures through a lens.
Tianjin to Tibet, Shanghai to Sichuan, Hong Kong to Henan, Tom takes you on a serendipitous journey - river deep, mountain high, citywide, countryside - to reveal the relationship between a vast, enigmatic and relatively unknown land and its incredibly diverse population.
From the birthplace of Chinese civilisation on the banks of the Yellow River, to the birthplace of Shaolin kung fu on the sacred peak of Song Shan, to a proud mother soon to give birth in the Year of the Golden Pig . . . to the growth of the Christian Movement in Hong Kong, rice in the paddies of Nanjing and consumerism in Hangzhou . . . to the demise of traditional housing in Jinan, the death of a puppy in Siberia's frozen wastes and the resting places of honoured ancestors in Macao, his images usher you full-circle through all walks of life in all of the Middle Kingdom's thirty-three provinces.
Tom's discerning eye combines the deliberate, the subtle, the fortuitous, the impromptu and the random to create a candid and affecting collage that juxtaposes young and old, shiny and crumbling, ancient and modern, humble and brash, happy and sad, and beauty with - the occasional - frank ugliness to provide an exceptional up-close-and-personal incite into a proud people whose individuality differs greatly and whose way of life stretches across a millennia, and shows a country so swept up in the paradox of global capitalism that, if not careful, it will look upon CHINA: PORTRAIT OF A PEOPLE in the not-too-distant future with nostalgia as the pre-eminent historical record.
This book took me on a truly remarkable voyage; one that many will be delighted to complete in armchair comfort as they flick through its pages, awestruck by such an undertaking and grateful for its profundity, while others will reach for their backpacks, further inspired to set out and snatch a peek at this extraordinary country and meet some of its colourful inhabitants for themselves.
My only criticism of Tom's contribution is when he says `The snapshots in this book are not meant to be works of art.'
If this isn't Art, Tom . . . then I don't care to see what is.
Chris Thrall is the author of 'Eating Smoke: One Man's Descent into Drug Psychosis in Hong Kong's Triad Heartland' - a best-selling true story (