CHINA: Portrait of a People
by Tom Carter
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Book Reviews of CHINA: Portrait of a People
Book Review: Vicariously drink in an immensely diverse culture
Summary: 5 Stars
Tom Carter's visual journey through China allows us to vicariously drink in an immensely diverse culture. The unexpected can be found on almost any page; prostitution in macau, punk hair in Changsha, a beautiful baby in Gongtan, and the mentally ill in Luoyang. I learned a lot about China by looking at it's pages, the presence of Islam, street corner dentists pulling teeth, and other surprises. Normally I would call this a spoiler but there are just so many surprises in this book that I'm barely scratching the surface. There are also plenty of images you would expect: Tibetan monks, Chinese junks, and elderly weather beaten faces. This book is immense and though it is mostly photos, it takes a while to look at all 600 pages of people, villages, cities. I hardly have the vocabulary to describe the range and contrast of subject matter in this book; varied, diverse, encyclopedic, these words don't do it justice. With such a breadth of topics spanning the most populous country, there isn't much room for depth. Each region has a brief introduction and map, each photo has a short caption. But the book is a great leaping off place for anyone who wants to start learning about China through a visual smorgasbord.
The images of people are competently captured in a mostly street documentary style. Carter gets close to his subject, and sometimes their poses are obvious reactions to being photographed, other times they seem oblivious to being recorded. Sometimes the photographer gets up high to give us a birds-eye view of an area of village. Other times he gets in close to his subjects to tell their story.
Having made it through this enormous tome, I find myself picking it up repeatedly and thumbing through it. I keep finding images that I want to look at again, and there are so many that even memorable photos seem like I'm looking at them for the first time.
Book Review: One of the Best Photography Books I Have Seen
Summary: 5 Stars
A friend recommended this book to me. I must tell you that I thought I had seen all photography books and have seen pictures from places all over the world. But, my friend insisted it was great - so I got it. WOW is all I can say. I have traveled to China from the US and thought I had seen most of the country. Now I see I have probably only been to the tourist parts of China. The author, Tom Carter, takes one on a journey far beyond what an average tourist may see in the country. It is the the "real" and "everyday" China. But is much more than that. You see not just some of the sights, but something that tells much more of the story. The sights and the people...their everyday life, their landscape, their way of surviving in a changing country.
From the picture of the coal miner with his amazing face and expression - to a child's laugh. Photographer Tom Carter was able to not only view but capture a China that the rest of us could only imagine. If you had told me such a country existed beyond what the state-media portrayed - I probably would not have believed it. But, in his genius to sneak some shots, befriend locals, and take pictures at perhaps the most ridiculous times, Tom Carter has captured a country and a people that is very foreign to most Westerners. The book is much larger than expected and the photographs themselves are much more personal than one may expect from a first-time photo-journalist. But, this book will put Tom Carter on the map and so much that he may have trouble in the future traveling to such places as an unknown photographer.
I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. If you have an interest in China, photography books, or just capturing the world - Tom Carter has done it and it is amazing.
Book Review: Accent is on The People
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been living in the country for 20+ years, so it's no easy task to capture my attention--or hold it--with a "China" book. But somehow Carter has managed to do so.
Maybe it's the smiles: Warm, infectious, genuine. A positively ancient yet bubbly Beijing couple on the eve of their 55th wedding anniversary. The Yao woman whose front teeth checked out long ago. Or an adorable Uighur girl with a dainty, coffee-colored lace headdress.
Carter documents the astounding variety of the peoples of China, face by face, but he also does a good job of contrasting architecture in different regions. My favorites: The myriad flat rooftops of Tibet's second city, Shigatse; perfectly circular "tulou" communal houses of the Hakka in Fujian; and a sea of sloping roof tiles rippling over Lijiang, Yunnan, perhaps China's best-preserved traditional village.
Just one page of text precedes each of the 33 chapters introducing a municipality, province or autonomous region. Brief, to the point, but not formulaic. Zhejiang is encapsulated by an ancient poem, Qinghai via the words of a 10-year-old Tibetan girl who is worried that her family's nomadic life is doomed, and the humorous text referring to expatriates in the capital, "China's unofficial 57th minority group."
By no means is it all exotic headdresses, ancient architecture and winning smiles; this is not your standard coffee-book tome. Carter doesn't flinch as he profiles victims of industrial accidents, fire and mental illness, some reduced to begging for a living. But, curiously, even they seem to retain a bit of dignity as seen through his eyes.
Book Review: A view of China unlike any other
Summary: 5 Stars
I was drawn to Tom Carter's work after reading an Amazon list description he'd written that indicated a deeper understanding of Asian culture and society. I was compelled to buy this book after seeing that, unlike the coffee table books with sweeping views of rice paddies and mist-covered mountains, China: Portrait of a People focuses on a close-up and intimate look at the many cultures and ethnicities across all of China.
Carter traveled through 33 provinces and documented his journey with incredible one-of-a-kind photos of the young, the old, city folk, and rural villagers. I spent hours flipping through the pictures. They are not all pretty -- there are startling images of poverty and hardship. The gap between the standard of living in different areas of the country can be clearly seen. Yet there is a raw beauty to it all through the unfiltered lens of Carter's camera.
The pictures show people living their everyday lives. You see them in the streets, by the rivers, in nightclubs and in temples. We get to peek into the myriad of encounters big and small that must make up such a journey. The resounding message is that the Chinese people are a vast mix of distinct cultures and histories and China is a world onto itself. I have already revisited the book several times. The images are ones that stay with you and I feel privileged to experience this incredible adventure vicariously through Tom Carter's eyes.
--Jeannie Lin, author of "Butterfly Swords (Harlequin Historical)"
Book Review: China As You've Never Seen It
Summary: 5 Stars
China As You've Never Seen It
Tom Carter's book , China : Portrait of a People provides an insight into the diversity and beauty of the Chinese people. These photos offer a look at the people of China through the eyes of someone who cares. Tom's epic journey through China resulted in a a deeply personal pictorial journal and I'm glad that he is sharing it with the world. This is a must read book for anyone who is planning to visit China. It will also make a great gift for someone who is interested in China .
All my life I had dreamed of visiting China and recently I fulfilled that dream. I'm teaching English at Liaoning Normal University in Northern China. Before coming to China. I had read many books on Chinese culture and tradition. but then I came across Tom Carter's book at a friends house. Since I was preparing to go to China she suggested I take it with me. As I began to read the book , I realized that Tom loves people as much as I do. His ability to capture the essence of a country through photos of ordinary people is uncanny. Through his photos we get glimpses of daily life for most people in China.
As I go about my daily life in China I see Toms's book reflected in the students and the people I meet on the street. When my friends ask me what I like most about China I always say "the people". I have never been in a country where the people were so very warm and helpful. I'm looking forward to spending many years in China meeting the people and tasting the wonderful food. '
PLEASE , DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND GET A COPY OF THIS BOOK.