All eyes are on China. Yet despite constant media coverage, increased tourism and rampant foreign investment, the cultural distance between China and the West remains as vast as the oceans that separate them. For all intents and purposes, the Middle Kingdom is still relatively unknown by Westerners.
Photographer Tom Carter spent 2 years backpacking 56,000 kilometers (35,000 miles) across all 33 provinces in China, including some of the most remote locations in the country: from the steaming jungles of Xishuangbanna in Yunnan to the frozen banks of the Amur River in Manchuria. En route, he discovered and photographed immense geographic and ethnic diversity.
“What the photographs herein reveal is that China is not just one place, one people, but 33 distinct regions populated by 56 different ethnicities, each with their own languages, customs and lifestyles,” writes Carter in his introduction. “It is my most sincere hope that this book unites the people immortalized in its pages – Tibetan pilgrims and Beijing scholars, Uyghur Muslims and Shanghai bankers, Hong Kong millionaires and Shanxi miners – in celebration of their glorious cultures.
Publisher Pete Spurrier of Blacksmith Books remarked: “There are several books of photography already on the market that focus on China’s history or famous sites, but CHINA: Portrait of a People is the first of this scope by a single author devoted to Chinese PEOPLE! Tom Carter has single-handedly photographed almost every aspect of life humanity across the PRC.”
CHINA: Portrait of a People includes a glowing review by celebrated Chinese authoress Anchee Min (Red Azalea, Empress Orchid) who says “Tom Carter is an extraordinary photographer whose powerful work captures the heart and soul of the Chinese people.” Shanghai rebel writer Mian Mian (Candy, La la la) writes the epilogue: “Tom Carter’s photo book is an honest and objective record of the Chinese and our way of life...”