For regular readers who have stopped by over the past few weeks, I must apologise for the lack of posts recently. The past couple of months were busier than I expected and blogging kept getting pushed back further and further down my list of things ‘to do’. Needless to say, I am back and will endeavor to post as regularly as possible in the new year. This is a new year’s resolution at the top of my list!

First up is an interview that I did for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting recently, talking about my project from last summer on ‘China’s Fragile Forests’, looking at the current threats to China’s Forests. I hope it gives you some insights into my project and how I approached it. Stay tuned for more updates on this project in the new year!

BBC Viewfinder

Last week, I had an assignment from the British Embassy in Beijing to photograph the visit of British Prime Minister, David Cameron on his first visit as PM to China. This was a very exciting and interesting assignment and I plan to feature some of my behind-the-scenes photos here on my blog in the coming weeks.

Photographing someone like the PM is a very unique experience and I thought it would be interesting to share some of my experiences with you. Please stay tuned in the coming weeks and I look out for these special posts. In the meantime, scroll down to read my interview with BBC Photo Editor Phil Coomes on my experiences.

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“Earlier this week photographer Sean Gallagher spent two days in the company of the British Prime Minister David Cameron during his visit to China. Here Sean talks about the project.

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John MacKinnon, of the EU-China Biodiversity Programme

SEAN GALLAGHER, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, BEIJING, CHINA

John MacKinnon, of the EU-China Biodiversity Program, is one the world’s leading experts on biodiversity and the environment in China. He began his career in 1965 working with Jane Goodall in the famed study of the chimpanzees of Gombe. In 1968, he moved to Southeast Asia to study orangutans under the supervision of Nobel laureate Niko Tinbergen.

MacKinnon first went to China in 1987 to work on the World Wildlife Fund’s Giant Panda project. He is an expert and author of 17 books on birds and mammals in China and has served for 14 years as co-chair for the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. He was awarded the prestigious Order of Golden Ark, with highest rank of Commander by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands for his lifetime services to conservation.

I caught up with him last month in the Beijing headquarters of the EU-China Biodiversity Program where we discussed some of the issues currently facing China’s wetlands.

This is an abridged version of the interview.

What are your thoughts with regard to biodiversity affected by wetland disappearance?

Probably of all ecosystems, wetlands are the most endangered because water is just used by people everywhere. So there is hardly a stream in China that doesn’t have somebody putting [something] into it or taking water out of it.

Everything is messed up with pollution–pipes taking off water for agriculture, for industry, for household use, building weirs across rivers to divert the water into little gullies. And then it gets bigger and bigger, up to these huge dams that the government has been putting in all over the place. China has thousands of these dams now which are having a profound impact on the water system. It means that fish and frogs can no longer move up and down river systems. Some are seasonal and need to go up into the head stream in the summer and lay eggs where the young can breed. And then in the winter these are frozen up, so they have to move down to the lower waters. Can’t do it anymore. So a lot of the species, a lot of the fish are endangered. Some are extinct.

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City Weekend

We were delighted to find out last week that Chelin Miller, who is a former student from one of out hutong workshops, was featured in Beijing City Weekend and interviewed about her experiences taking on of our classes. You can read a snippet of the interview here online and read it reproduced below. Well done Chelin! To see images from the workshop Chelin attended, please go here.

Snap Happy: Hutong Photography

*Amateur photographer Chelin Miller tells us why she hones her skills in Sean Gallagher’s photo workshops

What is it about photography that draws you?

Photos tell a story, preserve memories and can be a fantastic creative outlet.

Have you ever studied photography before?

I have never studied photography seriously, but I’ve had a passion for it since I was a teenager.

(c) City Weekend

How did you find the hands-on photography workshop?

There was a feeling of camaraderie from the beginning. We were eight in our group. Armed with our cameras, we went out around the hutong and although we were all together, we all perceived different aspects of the area, the people and the architecture. It was fascinating to come back to the hostel and review everybody’s photos; I think we all learned a lot from each other.

Is the workshop accessible to the camera challenged?

Yes, the workshop was very clear and concise. It covered enough basic technical and composition steps to be able to take good photos even if you were a total beginner, without slowing down the pace for those with a little bit more experience.

Will you be taking the workshop again?

Yes, definitely. I can’t wait to go to Harbin for the ice festival with Sean and Jessica’s group. Being with others who share my passion, making jokes, feeding ideas off each other and learning from each other is what makes the workshops so enjoyable.

I was asked recently by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to answer some questions with regards to my reporting on the subject of desertification in China. This is part of their initiative titled ‘Meet the Journalist”, offering viewers a chance to get ‘behind the scenes’ and find out some of the motivations and working practices that go into the reporting by the grantees. I was happy to answer a few questions on my reporting, all of which can be found now on the Pultizer Center’s YouTube channel, which is well worth checking out.

The first of the videos can be found below.

Question 1 “Why did you decide to report on this issue?”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRlOYgJjVkE[/youtube]

Please head here to view answers to the following questions: What was your biggest hurdle reporting on this issue? How is this story related to issues in the US? How has climate change news coverage evolved since you started reporting on these issues, and what could be done better?

BBC World Service

Last month I was interviewed by the BBC World Service’s Outlook programme for an article on my work on desertification for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The interview ran over the new year and has proved to be a wonderful new way to spread the message about this issue (the BBC World Service gets around 37 million listeners worldwide apparently).

If you missed it, then you can click on this link here to listen to the entire interview.

Here is the text that ran on the BBC World Service Website:

“Some of the most striking images on display at December’s Copenhagen climate change conference were pictures of China taken by a young British photographer.

Sean Gallagher travelled across the world’s most populated country on what is known as the ‘desertification train.’

And he documented his journey in photos to show how life is a constant struggle for those living on the edges of China’s deserts.

BBC World Service

China is fighting a war against creeping sand – year on year its deserts are expanding and joining to create a massive dustbowl.

It is estimated that 20 per cent of China’s land area – some 1.74 million square kilometers – is now classified as desert.

One of the main stops on Sean’s trip was Hongsibao – an environmental refugee town built from scratch by the Chinese Government to house those forced from their homes by the sandstorms and water shortages.

Lucy Ash spoke to Sean and asked him how these environmental refugees feel about their new home.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyj0NiOSnko[/youtube]

The above video is one that I produced for the Globe and Mail newspaper, along with the Asia Bureau Chief Mark Mackinnon and his assistant Yu Mei, a couple of weeks ago. The video centers on the preparations for the country’s 60th anniversary that passed on October 1st, focusing on the city of Hangzhou which lies to the west of Shanghai.

Yu Hua

One of the highlights of the video process was meeting and filming the author Yu Hua. Originating from Hangzhou, Yu Hua is one of China’s most famous and controversial novelists. In 1992 he released the book ‘To Live’ which was adapted into a movie by the well-known Chinese director Zhang Yimou, starring Gong Li. His feelings (and that of others we interviewed) about the way China has developed over the past 60 years were particularly interesting and refreshing, especially considering the propagandistic view presented constantly here in China recently.

Needless to say, witnessing the change China is going through at the moment is a special experience. Hearing the voices of people who have witnessed this change first-hand over the past 60 years is even more special and constantly eye-opening. I hope you enjoy the video.

Yesterday morning, I was invited to the China Radio International studios here in Beijing, to take part in a panel discussion about desertification. The discussion was a great success and I was really happy to be able to talk about this issue and my work for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting on the radio for the second time this week. One of my aims for the distribution of this work was to get it out into as many different media outlets as possible. With the advent of new media, I think radio has been forgotten a little in a way, so it’s good to promote it here on my blog.

Please click here to listen to the panel discussion as it aired yesterday

Also, please find below a few images taken during the show by the host Chris Gelken and other members of the China Radio International staff.

[nggallery id=2]

Please click here to listen to China Radio International Interview with photographer Sean Gallagher

The above audio file is an interview that aired with China Radio International today, on the subject of desertification and my work for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

This is the first time I have been interviewed on the radio in relation to my work for Pulitzer, however it won’t be the last as I have also been invited back for a panel discussion on Thursday 30th July which will air at 10:00 a.m. Beijing time (03:00 a.m. GMT), also on the subject of desertification. To hear that discussion, please tune in here. If you miss it, do not worry, as I shall post it onto the blog soon after.

Hope you enjoy the interview!