I don’t know if these pictures have already been posted here, but I couldn’t find any in a search and I was so amazed by these I thought I’d share. They are pics made by some young dude in China… some of the pollution, some of the crazy every day stuff that goes on…
Don’t look if you are squeamish (some pics of accidents)… you’ve been warned:
please read what it says in the beginning, don’t just scroll down
I don’t find that those pictures are all that typical Chinese. Go to India or any other crowded place where living conditions are worse than in the West and you can easily spot those scenes. And accidents are horrifying everywhere, even in, let’s say, Switzerland.
Here you go.
I’m sure there are worse things in China than Taiwan. These are just not the right pictures for it. I’ve seen most of it including unpaid workers here crying, lots of blood on the street and junk and pollution everywhere.
[quote]
In the following, a subset of photographs have been chosen from the NetEase post. These were selected in part because of their shock value, and therefore you are forewarned that some of the photographs may make you feel uncomfortable.
The first striking thing is about the photographer himself. Bearing in mind that Maohair is only twenty-three years old, one has to wonder how he manages to put himself in the right place at the right time so often. You should also bear in mind that photographing probably should not have been allowed in some of the situations, either because it was interfering with rescue activities, or because it touched upon taboo subjects (e.g. mining accidents), or because it intruded into privacy. So when you look at these photographs, you should also think about the circumstances under which they were taken. Most of them were probably hit-and-run opportunistic, although it was clear that the photographer must have created the opportunities by wile and determination.
The second striking thing is that these photographs from a young photographer communicate a portrait of Chinese society that even words cannot. It is extraordinary that this body of work should come from a photojournalist based in Shenyang. By comparison, for example, there are undoubtedly all sorts of photojournalists in Hong Kong or New York City but it is hard to imagine that any of them would have a body of work like Maohair that seems to capture the spirit and mood of his society in such stunning fashion. Could it be that there are simply many more unusual things happening in a rapidly changing society in China than elsewhere at this moment?[/quote]
What came to my mind was not how these pics summed up China, but what it said about this individual “Maohair”. I mean, he must have really pushed through those crowds and got to places he shouldn’t be to take those pics. I could never be thick skinned enough to do that. Is he a cold hearted freak or just really good at his job?
Very interesting pictures. As digital cameras proliferate in China I think we can look forward to a greater number of candid shots of life in China. I much prefer these to arty shots of hills and oxen in meadows.