VISUAL THOUGHTS 视觉观点

A member of staff looks at a feather during a class led by the Mangrove Action Project

SEAN GALLAGHER, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, GUANGDONG PROVINCE

“Since the end of the second world war, we’ve lost about 50 percent of our mangroves worldwide. Which means, we’ve got about 13 million hectares left.” This was the sobering statistic that began my interview with Martin Keeley, education director for the Mangrove Action Project in China’s sweltering southern province of Guangdong last week.

I had arrived in the province via China’s most southern mainland city of Zhanjiang, to explore the mangroves of the Leizhou Peninsula, a jut of land extending from the mainland into the South China Sea. It is home to China’s largest mangrove reserve and is at the forefront of fighting the battle to protect the country’s remaining mangroves from multiple threats in the region.

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Join the hoards at Badaling during 'Golden Week' Holidays. 2006

In the second of my series of “Where is the best place to photograph…” (view the first one can be found here), I want to tackle possibly THE most famous landmark in the whole of the country: The Great Wall of China.

This iconic landmark is photographed like no-other and has fascinated photographers, all looking for the best vantage point in order to capture this amazing structure. But the question is; Where is the best place to photograph the Great Wall of China?

In this post, I shall offer up 4 suggestions. These are not the only locations of course. I have not visited every part and these are just my choices. If you know of, or want to recommend interesting/photogenic parts you have been to, please feel free to let us know in the comments section below and vote in the survey.  So, let’s begin….

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TEDx Canton

Next week sees the arrival of TEDx on the Guangzhou Science Center, in southern China. I feel very flattered and honoured to have been invited to be one of the speakers at the event, talking about my recent work over the past couple of years for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. For those of you who are free on Saturday 4th September, click the picture above to get info about how you can get hold of some of the last remaining tickets that are available. I am sure that it is going to be an amazing day, with great talks and attended by a lot of very interesting people.

If you see me there, please come and say hi!

Sand ships on Dongting lake in Hunan Province.

SEAN GALLAGHER FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, HUNAN PROVINCE, CHINA

I was starting to feel a little anxious as I approached the shores of Dongting Lake in China’s central Hunan province. From a distance, I easily spied the country’s second largest freshwater lake. As I approached, waves lapped up on the shore, breaking near the barriers separating the lake from the nearby walkway.  As I peered over the barriers and gazed further, I saw clumps of green protruding from the water. They were tree tops. This wasn’t exactly the scene I was expecting.

Dongting Lake has been reported as a lake in crisis. Dropping water levels have sent alarm-bells ringing in scientific and environmental circles, as the area of the lake has reportedly dropped by nearly 50 percent in the past 70 years. What I was witnessing however appeared to be the opposite. One fact was certain, this was a lake in an incredible state of flux.

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Chinese Alligators in enclosure at ARCAR

SEAN GALLAGHER, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, ANHUI PROVINCE, CHINA

When I discovered in my research that China had its own crocodilian, I was excited to try to find an opportunity to photograph it. What I was not prepared for was to learn that the species is perilously near extinction.

“In the past few centuries, the number of Yangtze alligator[s] has dropped dramatically”, explained Xie Yan, a quiet and unassuming  woman who is the current director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s China office. Having studied Zoology in university in Sichuan, she became concerned with the plight of many of China’s animals species, leading her to write numerous books about China’s wildlife. “According to a survey in 1998, only 120 wild Yangtze crocodiles [are] left. In the past, the number should be between 10,000 and one million,” continued Xie Yun, during an interview at the Anhui Research Center of Alligator Reproduction (ARCAR).

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CHINA. A Chinese Alligator. 2010

SEAN GALLAGHER, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, ANHUI PROVINCE, CHINA

This week I travel to the province of Anhui, situated in the Yangtze River basin west of Shanghai. I travel to this region to begin the chapter of my work on the effects of wetland disappearance on animal species in China.

As way of introduction to this chapter, I recently interviewed Joe Abene, a long-time alligator researcher who worked for the Bronx Zoo in New York for many years and is an expert on the Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis), a species which is on the brink of extinction in the wild.

This first post serves as an introduction to the plight of the Chinese alligator. Later this week, I travel to the Anhui Research Center of Chinese Alligator Reproduction to report on the work being done there to save the species.

How and when did you originally become involved in the plight of the Chinese Alligator?

My love of Chinese/Yangtze alligators started at the Bronx zoo, where I worked in the reptile house for 15 years. The curator, John Behler, and the previous supervisor, Peter Brazaitis, had already been trail blazers in crocodilian conservation and Chinese alligators were a species they showed special interest in. By the time I started working at the zoo, the staff there had already been instrumental in the first captive breeding of the species in the USA. During my time at the zoo, I participated in the care of a large group of captive Yangtze alligators. Mr. Behler was the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan coordinator for the species, and when he passed away, I took over the position.

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CHINA. Xixi Wetlands in Hangzhou. 2010

“Green Hills Soothe My Eyes, Running Water Tranquilizes My Mind,” announced the sign to my left as I entered the Xixi Wetland park in Hangzhou. “Only One Future for Our Children – Development Without Destruction,” proclaimed a second sign just a few meters ahead on my right. “Your Planet Needs You – Unite to Combat Climate Change,” a third sign almost screamed to me as I turned the next bend. If nothing else, these signs were saying all the right things to me and the thousands of visitors streaming through the gates of the Xixi wetland, located in the city of Hangzhou, just a short distance from the megalopolis of Shanghai, on the shores of the East China Sea.

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Pulitzer Center Logo

As many readers of this blog will know, last year I received a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to continue my work documenting the topic of desertification in China. I am delighted that the Pulitzer Center have chosen to give me another grant this year in order to begin a new body of work on the issue of China’s Wetlands and their dissapearance.

Over the next month and a half I shall be travelling throughout parts of China visiting some of the country’s key wetlands. I shall be writing updates from the field as I go as blog posts for Pulitzer’s Untold Stories Blog, which I shall also be reproducing here. Please feel free to send through any questions you may have about my reporting and I shall endeavour to answer the. You can find the first of my blog posts for Pulitzer below.

CHINA: THREATENED WATERS

Sean Gallagher, for the Pulitzer Center. Beijing, China

CHINA. A dead bird lies on the shores of a man-made reservoir in central Gansu Province. 2009

I was surprised to learn the other day that a friend of mine and fellow photographer, Lance Rosenfield, had made it onto CNN. I wasn’t surprised that he was in the limelight because he is an excellent photographer…see proof here and here.I was surprised  because he was on CNN since he had just been detained and harassed whilst on assignment photographing a BP oil refinery in Texas.

The above video is an interview with Lance from the Anderson Cooper show on CNN a couple of days ago. Lance outlines his experiences of being followed by the police, detained and quizzed after having taken pictures of the refinery.

It’s understandable that sights such as this will be sensitive to people randomly turning up and taking photographs. It’s equally understandable that they may stop people and ask what they are doing. What isn’t understandable is the way that those people can then be treated by the authorities as was outlined by Lance in his interview. The fact that Lance’s personal information was given to BP security by the police, despite his protests, is worrying. The fact that he was also intimidated by the threat and subsequent arrival of a Homelands Security Officer sounds excessive and uncalled for. Was this really needed when I am sure Lance outlined he was a professional photojournalist working for a reputable publication?

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On Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th June, we headed out on our first “Desert Workshop”, focusing on introducing our students to Tianmo desert which is located just 80km north-west of Beijing. We spent two days exploring the local dune systems and experiencing local life amongst the people of the area. You may think that I might be a little tired of deserts by now, but it really was a lot of fun to introduce people to this little visited area, so close to Beijing.

We had a jam packed 2-days full of shooting in the desert, visiting people’s homes, lots of editing sessions and trying traditional food from the area. Highlights including getting up for the sunrise over the desert and having a run-in with the local army plus multiple wedding parties! An odd mix but a lot of fun and it provided plenty of photo opportunities for everyone!

Please take a moment to play the slideshow and see some of the images from our trip. We hope to run this workshop again sometime soon, so please stay tuned and sign-up for our newsletter to be the first to know about new classes and trips!