We Chinese - street portraits and interviews about China and its future
January 27, 2011 10:15 AM   Subscribe

We Chinese - street portraits and interviews about China and its future
This project grew out of a curiosity to find out what Chinese people think about their country and their future. In 2010, I traveled to major urban centers in eastern China stopping people on the street to ask the same two questions about their country and their future: "What does China mean to you?" and "What is your role in China's future?" The respondents filled out a one-page typewritten questionnaire that included these two questions and some basic information including name, age, and occupation. The questions were interpreted variously, and the responses range from prosaic to poetic, from rote to inspired, and from unemotional to patriotic. While it’s difficult to draw conclusions about the entire population, the people photographed here expressed a sincere love of country and optimism about the country’s future development and peaceful position in the world. The final project incorporates about 100 portraits/interviews and includes people of various ages, gender, wealth, and hometown. For each person in the project, between five and ten declined to be photographed or fill out the questionnaire. You can read more about the project here.
posted by msbrauer (2 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
This project was posted to MetaFilter by smoke on February 1, 2011: We Chinese - street portraits and interviews about China and its future

Well, I thought it was cool. Kind of hard to use on my netbook -- the horizontal scroll bar was off the screen, and many of the pop-up descriptions were too, but it was worth the few minutes I spent on the site. Fascinating how many of the people interviewed saw their country as a growing force for peace. That word, "peace," started to feel a bit eerie to me after a while. Peace at what cost? And what makes them think their nation can succeed at brining peace where others have failed? Good stuff.
posted by circular at 7:16 PM on January 27, 2011


I thought this was incredible; awesome concept.
posted by smoke at 3:08 AM on February 1, 2011


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