Peasants go down town, Deyang county, Sichuan, 1984 [China.org.cn]

Photographer:

Zhang Xinmin was born in Sichuan in 1952, is visual director of Shekou News and a director of the Guangdong Photographers Association. He began his work"Laying Siege to the City"in 1990 and finished it in 2000. Shaanxi Normal University Press published it in 2004. The Bates College Museum of Art has bought 10 of the photographs. Zhang won the 7th China Photography Golden Award in 2007.

 

"Laying Siege to the City" tells the story of Chinese migrant workers coming to the city to work and improve their standard of living. Photographer Zhang Xinmin moved from Sichuan to rapidly developing Shenzhen in the early 1980s. He witnessed an entire historical period of economic and social change in China. His pictures not only express the dreams and efforts of Chinese peasants, but also reveal acute social problems. Zhang's pictures express his compassion and concern for ordinary people. (Curator: Liu Shuyong)