{"id":6563,"date":"2013-11-01T20:15:56","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T13:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seangallagher.wpengine.com\/?p=6563"},"modified":"2013-11-01T20:15:56","modified_gmt":"2013-11-01T13:15:56","slug":"lens-china-city-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gallagher-photo.com\/lens-china-city-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Lens on China – City Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"City<\/a>
City Weekend Beijing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Quick post today to say thanks to the City Weekend<\/a> Beijing team for featuring this interview (below) on their website recently. <\/p>\n

He is about to head to Nanjing for a series of meetings with members of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, but Sean Gallagher sits in the booth of the noisy UBC Coffee with a cool composure and balanced energy that can only be expected of a Brit with a stiff upper lip. Even when discussing the world\u2019s most pressing challenges, he exudes a sense of calm amidst the bustle of Beijing. \u201cEverything we do is in conflict with nature,\u201d says the sandy-brown haired 33-year-old, \u201cand has an impact on nature.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

His clear commitment to this topic is evident in his recently released e-book, which he produced in collaboration with the Pulitzer Prize Center for Crisis Reporting, Meltdown: China\u2019s Environmental Crisis. In it, he uses his photos, personal interviews and stories collected over a span of seven years to document what is arguably one of the country\u2019s most difficult problems.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s his scientific training that explains Gallagher\u2019s composure. He grew up in the northwest of England, near Manchester\u2014\u201cnowhere you\u2019ve heard of,\u201d he humbly notes\u2014and received a degree in Zoology from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. After having spent three years completely immersed in studying environmental and scientific issues, Gallagher moved to Beijing in 2006 to commence his work as an environmental photojournalist, videographer and multimedia producer.<\/p>\n

He brings to his career an understanding of how to utilize scientific resources such as magazines and journals, entailing an ability to conduct research which still plays a major role in his work today before taking on any project. \u201cIf you\u2019re trained in science, you approach subjects in a more balanced way, try not to put spin on subjects, remove personal feelings and try to report on what you see and the facts,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Soft spoken and deliberate in his words, Gallagher\u2019s passion and optimism come through with precision when juxtaposed with the challenging scenarios he has witnessed in his work. His five grants from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, among other accolades in the photojournalistic world, have all focused on difficult situations in China, touching on deserts (2009), wetlands (2010), forests (2011), the Tibetan Plateau (2012) and an earlier project on drug smuggling from North Korea.<\/p>\n

\"Meltdown-Website-Banner\"

But China isn\u2019t the only place Gallagher is documenting environmental issues. In one particularly memorable research trip to the Jakarta, Indonesia slum of Muara Baru, Gallagher was covering the effect of rising sea levels on the sinking city that is built on a series of rivers and canals. This section of the river was entirely covered by rubbish. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t see the water, just a river of trash,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople were living inches above the trash, rats running around, flies everywhere, a horrendous smell\u2014and women were cooking food meters away.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explains he was initially stunned and couldn\u2019t take pictures; but after a while, \u201cI got back to doing my job [of] documenting what it was like living there for some of the people and to help put it into the context of some of the pollution in Jakarta.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallagher focused on China first, because of the size of the population and its economy. \u201cWhat happens in China inevitably affects the rest of Asia,\u201d he says. He is now extending his work into Indonesia and India, that, with China, are an influential triumvirate in Asia that present the key to understanding what is happening throughout the region. As a photojournalist, he feels it is fascinating to be here, he says. \u201cTo document the rapid changes as they are happening, as we see the results of our impact on ecosystems in a vivid, noticeable way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with all the degradation and havoc we humans are wreaking on the planet, Gallagher remains excited, proclaiming he will need at least another seven years just to cover Indonesia. It\u2019s all part of a long-term project, but one that depends on his being an optimist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s from my upbringing,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you\u2019re not one, and you don\u2019t believe things will get better, then what\u2019s the point? I don\u2019t have the magic answer. The solutions will come from government, the science community, media, with everyone working together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quick post today to say thanks to the City Weekend Beijing team for featuring this interview (below) on their website recently. He is about to head to Nanjing for a series of meetings with members of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, but Sean Gallagher sits in the booth of the noisy UBC Coffee with a cool composure and balanced energy that can only be expected of a Brit with a stiff upper lip. Even when discussing the world\u2019s most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,83],"tags":[37,29],"yoast_head":"\nLens on China - City Weekend - Sean Gallagher - Photographer & Filmmaker - Beijing, China<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gallagher-photo.com\/lens-china-city-weekend\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lens on China - City Weekend - Sean Gallagher - Photographer & Filmmaker - Beijing, China\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Quick post today to say thanks to the City Weekend Beijing team for featuring this interview (below) on their website recently. He is about to head to Nanjing for a series of meetings with members of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, but Sean Gallagher sits in the booth of the noisy UBC Coffee with a cool composure and balanced energy that can only be expected of a Brit with a stiff upper lip. 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