Author:sgallagher
[vimeo width=”570″ height=”320″]https://vimeo.com/15090041[/vimeo] I’m happy to announce that my new multimedia piece for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is now online. ‘The Chinese Alligator: Species on the Brink” is a look at the plight of China’s only crocodilian species and the effects of decades of wetlands reclamation on population numbers. By combining stills, video, interviews and time-lapse photography I hope this piece provides a visually interesting account of the current situation, as well as an informative one. This is the […]
SEAN GALLAGHER, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA Water did not seem in short supply as I arrived in China’s southwest province of Sichuan. Rain was pounding on the windshield of my taxi and pools of water were starting to flow down the streets of the province’s capital, Chengdu. People scurried around the streets, desperate to get out of the storm that had quickly descended on the city. This unsavory welcome was compounded by the delivery of bad news […]
SEAN GALLAGHER, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, QINGHAI PROVINCE, CHINA Tenzin’s green eyes bored into me as I looked at his sunburnt face. “Qinghai Lake is a very holy place for us. We regard it as the ‘soul’ of Qinghai.” He was sitting by the side of a road running parallel to the lake shore. The sound of cars rushing past filled the air as Tenzin’s kneepads, torn and grazed, fluttered in the wind generated just a meter or two away. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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, […]