into the white: We Are China

Today me and Dong Hong went to the book signing for the book Discover China at the Xidan bookstore. It is 3 hardback books comprised of photographs and captions documenting 500 days spent travelling in China by a man named Agang. Agang was a designer who got tired of day to day life, saved his money and went on a journey around China. Believe it or no Chinese publisher would print his photographic journal so he saved money to self publish. Kudos to the man and his team because this is one hell of a book. Not a professional photographer by trade, his photographs are as good as any ‘professional’. As far as I know, it is the only book of it’s kind.

After the Q&A we got to meet Agang and he and his team were very nice. We swopped business cards and he said it would be good to keep in touch. I previously asked the question if he had any desire to publish internationally. My friend brought it up again and he said he would welcome such help. I was pretty surprised and incredibly chuffed to have been ‘asked’ but I said definitely I would try. He thanked me and I thanked him. This is a task I must fullfil when I get back to London.

Flicking through his book, which bar being badly translated, is an incredible book. One feels they are travelling around China and one realizes that it is vast and incredibly diverse. It is illuminating and touching. It is a very humanizing book on rural China and holds a lot of love for the land and it’s people who live within it.

I had experience on my travels in the past 14 years where I was scared, illuminated, in awe, in tears, and in danger. Our experience of travelling reflect the exploratory desire in humanity, the challenges we face in adversity, the personal boundaries we cross and the profound learning experience we are indelibly left with.

Although my experience in Beijing is less ‘wild’, I nonetheless feel like an explorer within a contained intent.

A few pictures from the past 2 weeks.