China
in Colour

"Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take." T S Eliot · 'Burnt Norton'

It is with no little feeling of nostalgia that I reviewed the hundred or so colour transparencies that make up the full batch of 'China in Colour'. Taken with a borrowed Nikon SLR, in some ways they represent more accurate impressions of what it was like to be in China during 1985 – 86 than the twin-lens Seagull black and white pictures I am more noted for. Why? An SLR is held at eye level and is therefore more intrusive. It is more isolating (you had to be a rich foreigner to be able to afford one) and like a rifle more threatening. There is a guardedness about some of the people in the group shots — not present in the more intimate pictures as I always seek permission. Another reason is that there is little romanticism here – this China is wet, dirty, unwashed, desolate. But there is also joy. The soldiers in the diplomatic quarter of Beijing take a lunchtime break and as it is summer enjoy popsicles as they walk congenially chatting. Other soldiers on the beach at Bei Dahu, their socks and boots off and their pants above their ankles, are delighted to show off their haul of crabs. The young girls joyful in their street dance. The young woman entrepreneur, a member of the first generation in over one thousand years of Chinese history, proud of her free market fruit stall in Beijing. This is the first of several galleries to come. Enjoy!