VISUAL THOUGHTS 视觉观点

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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Moving Sands in Dunhuang, Gansu Province. China. 2007

This week’s ‘Photo of the Week” comes with a slightly odd title and to be honest, is admittedly a slightly odd picture.

I created this image in 2007 near the town of Dunhuang, which is situated in western China in Gansu Province. The area is famous in China because of its spectacular desert scenery, an oasis which has been present for hundreds of years and also local grottoes that contain 1500 year-old Buddhist paintings.

I was in the region as I was beginning my work on the subject of desertification, which as readers of my blog will know has become one of my main works over the past couple of years. This was my first trip to begin photographing this phenomenon and I found myself outside of the slightly touristy town of Dunhuang, exploring areas away from the hoardes of visitors. As I tend to do when I visit a new place, I had rented a bicycle and began exploring the area on my own.  My meandering brought me to a very surreal and somber scene. A huge graveyard on the fringes of the desert.

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A sandstorm in China's central Ningxia Province. 2009

As many followers of my work and my blog will know, much of my work falls within the category of environmental photography. As talks begin in Copenhagen today, on the immediate future plans of our governments to tackling climate change, it seemed appropriate to write a special blog post on photographing climate issues in China. In between the text are some of my favourite images from my work on climate change here in China.

A lone chimney stack on the outskirts of Baoding, China's first carbon-positive city. 2009

It seems that photographing climate issues have become quite a trendy topic recently. Magnum photographer Martin Parr recently described it as “as hip as it gets” in a recent blog post (via/ the excellent Duckrabbit, who do sterling work on Climate issues in Bangladesh, by the way). This is all unsurprising really. Climate change is the story of our generation and it’s a bandwagon that everyone should be jumping on. Our responsibility as photographers comes with truly understanding the issues we are photographing and being clear in the message that we are trying to convey with our pictures.

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Air pollution hangs over the Bund in central Shanghai. 2008

This week’s ‘Photo of the Week’ is about a subject that is never too far away from the lips of China’s residents…air pollution. The above photograph was taken in Shanghai, in early 2008, towards the end of a trip I undertook travelling the Yangtze river. Shanghai is one of China’s most spectacular cities, however this alternative photo sheds the city in a different light. A somewhat greyish light, if you will.

The debate surrounding air pollution has always been intense. In the run up to the Olympic Games last summer, China famously banned cars from the roads, closed building sites and shut down factories ahead of the games, in attempt to clear up the air and protect competing athletes. Athletes arrived, some sporting masks, however it was generally perceived that air quality was improved during the games. A new study published just last month in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, has revealed that spectators and participants faced an “unprecedented level” of air pollution at the Games. Particulate air pollution in the air during the Beijing games was most worrying, well above the World Health Organisation’s safe limits and at levels almost 30% more than stated by experts in China.

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China. Beijing. Lightning storm over the city. 2007

‘Photo of the week’ is to be a regular feature here on the Sean Gallagher Photography Blog. Every Monday, I shall post an image from my archive and write a little bit about it to explain my choice. The choice may be because it didn’t make the cut into my portfolio site, or maybe it will be tied in to something in the news, or maybe it’ll just be a photo I really like.

So here is the first one I have chosen for you.

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