Amid China's tumultuous dash to become rich, one man's photographs of families posing with their worldly possessions will soon seem like records from a distant era. Huang Qingjun has spent nearly a decade travelling to remote parts of China to persuade people, who in some cases have never been photographed, to carry outside all their household goods and pose for him.
Who says we live in a materialistic age?
The results offer glimpses into the utilitarian lives of millions of ordinary Chinese who, at first glance, appear not to have been swept up by the same modernization that has seen hundreds of millions of others leave for the cities.
More about Qingjun longterm project on BBC News, The Guardian, and Le Temps.
Huang Qingjun, born in 1971, joined the Chinese Photographers’ Association in 1999. His works have been exhibited at 798 Photo Gallery, Beijing, China (2013); Photoquai Photography Biennial, Paris (2013); Conceptual Renewal-A Brief History of Chinese Contemporary Photographic Art, Beijing, China (2013); National Communication Museum, Germany (2007); National Train Museum, Nuremberg, Germany (2006); and Steam Locomotive Photo Exhibition in Beijing Dazhong Photo Gallery (2001).
His photographs have also been published and reported on by many media outlets, including BBC, The New York Times, Guardian Weekly, GEO, CCTV-2, CCTV-9, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Bloomberg News.