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Review
In China: Portrait of a People, Tom Carter shows us that there are actually dozens of Chinas. --Christian Science Monitor, August 27, 2010
A remarkable book, compact yet bursting with images that display the diversity of a nation of 56 ethnic groups. --San Francisco Chronicle, September 26, 2010
Capturing the diversity of China's 56 ethnic groups is a remarkable achievement ... A study well worth having on your bookshelf. --South China Morning Post, January 11, 2009
Carter's weighty book takes an effort to carry home from a store. But anyone interested in China should love owning it. --Cairns Media Magazine, October 7, 2008
Part of the strength of this book is its independent spirit. --China Daily, August 8, 2010
A remarkable book, compact yet bursting with images that display the diversity of a nation of 56 ethnic groups. --San Francisco Chronicle, September 26, 2010
Capturing the diversity of China's 56 ethnic groups is a remarkable achievement ... A study well worth having on your bookshelf. --South China Morning Post, January 11, 2009
Carter's weighty book takes an effort to carry home from a store. But anyone interested in China should love owning it. --Cairns Media Magazine, October 7, 2008
Part of the strength of this book is its independent spirit. --China Daily, August 8, 2010
Product Description
The Beijing Olympics focused the world's eyes on China. But despite increased tourism and rampant foreign investment, the cultural distance between China and the West remains as vast as the oceans that separate them. The Middle Kingdom is still relatively unknown by Westerners. China is in fact made up of 33 distinct regions populated by 56 ethnic groups - and photo journalist Tom Carter has visited them all. This little book is a visual tribute to the People's Republic of China, with an ardent emphasis on the People.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
My friend just returned from China and brought this book back with her as a souvenir. She got it in Beijing, so I was very happy to see it on Amazon! At 640 pages, I expected it to cost a mint, but the price on Amazon is a great deal, so I have bought 2 to get the super Saver Shipping, and I will give one away as a gift to my grandmother.
The photographer, Tom Carter, traveled to ALL 33 province in China to make this book. No other photographer has ever done that before. Instead of focusing on the tourist sites or beautiful locations like the other photo books do, Tom Carter went EVERYWHERE to show us the complete China. I appreciated this the most about his book.
I could not stop saying "wow" over and over again out loud to myself as I browsed this book. I wouldn't say his photos are beautiful in the traditional sense, because i'm really not interested in that dreamy, photoshopped stuff. On the contrary, the pictures in CHINA: Portrait of a People were so...REAL!
I've grown quite bored of books about water reflected on rice terraces and the sun rise over the Great Wall and ethnic minorities dancing during some festivals. I want to see what life back in China is really like. I want to know how the people's faces change from province to province. CHINA: Portrait of a People is the only photo book I have ever seen that does that. His pictures are very up-close and personal. I can't imagine how any westerner accomplished this. Even I as a Chinese would never be brave enough to get that intimate with people I don't know.
Well, it has taken me almost a WHOLE WEEK to finish looking through this book, it's SO thick, like a cube! I haven't even read the chapter introductions yet. But the captions are very informative and helped to understand what I was seeing. I would suggest this book to anyone going to China on holiday, as it really makes the reader excited.
The photographer, Tom Carter, traveled to ALL 33 province in China to make this book. No other photographer has ever done that before. Instead of focusing on the tourist sites or beautiful locations like the other photo books do, Tom Carter went EVERYWHERE to show us the complete China. I appreciated this the most about his book.
I could not stop saying "wow" over and over again out loud to myself as I browsed this book. I wouldn't say his photos are beautiful in the traditional sense, because i'm really not interested in that dreamy, photoshopped stuff. On the contrary, the pictures in CHINA: Portrait of a People were so...REAL!
I've grown quite bored of books about water reflected on rice terraces and the sun rise over the Great Wall and ethnic minorities dancing during some festivals. I want to see what life back in China is really like. I want to know how the people's faces change from province to province. CHINA: Portrait of a People is the only photo book I have ever seen that does that. His pictures are very up-close and personal. I can't imagine how any westerner accomplished this. Even I as a Chinese would never be brave enough to get that intimate with people I don't know.
Well, it has taken me almost a WHOLE WEEK to finish looking through this book, it's SO thick, like a cube! I haven't even read the chapter introductions yet. But the captions are very informative and helped to understand what I was seeing. I would suggest this book to anyone going to China on holiday, as it really makes the reader excited.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have always enjoyed reading books about China, as well as news and blogs, but not until I read this book did I realize how immensely valuable PICTURES can be in learning about a culture. Words are set to paper with an agenda in mind, and only give us the perspective, often heavily-opinionated, of the author (even textbooks are biased and heavily censored).
This is especially the case with books about China and the Chinese, a highly-contentious topic that so seldom receives the objective coverage it deserves. Mao: The Unknown Story is a prime example, a thinly-veiled assault on Mao's legacy posing as a history book. Even River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, a seemingly innocent travelogue about teaching English in China, is laced with the author's strong opinions towards socialism and Communism. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed these books for what they were - entertainment - but let's be honest: how much can we truly learn about a country through someone else's limited experiences?
When a colleague suggested Tom Carter's picture book to me, I confess that I scoffed. I want to learn about China, not be amused with pretty pictures. But what I saw really impressed me, and the more time I spent flipping through these colorful pages, the more I realized I was actually learning ALOT about the country: an unfiltered look at China and the Chinese.
Tom Carter spent several years traveling all of China, top to bottom, east to west, and photographed literally everything he saw along the way. The end result is a completely candid portrait of the lives of Chinese people: farmers, businessmen, industrial laborers, "working girls", monks, criminals, cops, and everyone in between. And what these pictures told ME is that 1) China is not nearly developed as the media would have us believe, 2) there's a massive gap between the few rich and the many poor.
The pictures in this book will leave each reader with their own personal impressions of the Chinese, and these may be different than yours or mine, and that's exactly why I have come to realize that a picture book like this is invaluable to the cause of learning: because it leaves us free to think for ourselves, something we owe it to China to start doing more often.
This is especially the case with books about China and the Chinese, a highly-contentious topic that so seldom receives the objective coverage it deserves. Mao: The Unknown Story is a prime example, a thinly-veiled assault on Mao's legacy posing as a history book. Even River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, a seemingly innocent travelogue about teaching English in China, is laced with the author's strong opinions towards socialism and Communism. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed these books for what they were - entertainment - but let's be honest: how much can we truly learn about a country through someone else's limited experiences?
When a colleague suggested Tom Carter's picture book to me, I confess that I scoffed. I want to learn about China, not be amused with pretty pictures. But what I saw really impressed me, and the more time I spent flipping through these colorful pages, the more I realized I was actually learning ALOT about the country: an unfiltered look at China and the Chinese.
Tom Carter spent several years traveling all of China, top to bottom, east to west, and photographed literally everything he saw along the way. The end result is a completely candid portrait of the lives of Chinese people: farmers, businessmen, industrial laborers, "working girls", monks, criminals, cops, and everyone in between. And what these pictures told ME is that 1) China is not nearly developed as the media would have us believe, 2) there's a massive gap between the few rich and the many poor.
The pictures in this book will leave each reader with their own personal impressions of the Chinese, and these may be different than yours or mine, and that's exactly why I have come to realize that a picture book like this is invaluable to the cause of learning: because it leaves us free to think for ourselves, something we owe it to China to start doing more often.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've been looking forward to writing a review for this fantabulous book since I purchased it last year. I'm not sure how much my words can do a photography book justice, since the point of an illustrated book such as this is to learn and understand through visual perception. This is not a small task, as I've never before read a book as thick and substantial as this one. Envision if you will almost a thousand pictures snapped while wandering aimlessly across 56,000 kilometers over the course of 2 years, then compiled in a comprehensive volume about present-day China, spanning every region, industry, social class and lifestyle imaginable. That is CHINA: Portrait of a People. If you are interested in Chinese culture, studying the language, planning a holiday there or just want to explore China through literature, I can personally attest that this book is invaluable for each and every one of those purposes.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Tom Carter's book `China - A Portrait of a People' is a breath of...
Tom Carter's book `China - A Portrait of a People' is a breath of fresh air. As a post-doctoral researcher of Chinese affairs at the University of Tokyo, it is unfortunate to see... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Senan
Tom Carter's "China: Portrait of a People" is a gem!!!
This book is an impressive, ambitious project. The photographs are breathtaking and the journalism is superb. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Hue Huynh
Tom Carter is eXpAt-tAcULar
Photojournalist Tom Carter has lived in China for nearly a decade - and spent a quarter of that time traveling over 56,000 kilometers across all 33 provinces in China. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Xiamen Expat
Carter's neutrality is to be admired.
In fact, "glimpse" is the wrong word to use here. With almost 900 photos spanning over 600 pages, Tom Carter's photography book China: Portrait of a People is an exhaustive,... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Peter B.
This book is a triumph.
A visually absorbing account of modern China that manages to reflect the effervescent dynamism of the emerging new superpower through the eyes and lens of a travelling... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ziboy
Entertaining and Essential Introduction to China! Highly Recommended
I'll just state that this book should be used in all American schools as a personal introduction to China, or -- as the author explains -- "the 33 provinces of the fourth largest... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Richard Perez
Unparalleled, but impossible to find in bookstores :(
This is the photo book you will want before you leave China as much as for when you get back. No book about China has ever inspired me as much to get out of the big cities and see... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Zhôngguó Jane
When a Pixel Portrays a Hundred Thousand Words
A picture painted a thousand words. That was before Tom Carter started taking them. Now, it seems, a pixel portrays a hundred thousand - and that's for those of us with limited... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Chris Thrall
Verbal and Visual Images by an Ambassador of Good Will: Tom Carter
Rarely does a book of richly colored photographic images of a country and the people that inhabit that country on every page reveal so much of a culture that the book becomes an... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Grady Harp
A million words
If one picture is worth a thousand words, then this striking work is worth a million words. At 15.2 x 15. Read more
Published 21 months ago by VickiT
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