Surround the city (The Expedition of Chinese Farmers to the City)

Author: Zhang Xinmin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: In the famous work "A Bed for Five Cents" by the renowned American photographer Lewis Hine, the grim conditions of the early 20th century are depicted. In the photographs of the Chinese photographer Zhang Xinmin, we discover an even more intense version of this. In Zhang Xinmin's photographs, we are even more heartbrokenly confronted with a small space filled with 20 people. Several families share a single bed. It is this reality that torments photographers like Zhang Xinmin, leading them to document the entire process of China's urbanization through their images. Throughout the 1990s, with his unique sensitivity and perseverance, he revealed the lives of the "other half" of China's urbanization process to us. This book vividly recreates the authentic experiences of farmers moving to cities in the 1990s, presenting a systematic and long-term visual record of this social transformation. It focuses on farmers, the journey of farmers moving to cities, the impact they have on urban areas, and the changes in the living conditions of farmers during China's urbanization process. Millions of people, driven by the need for survival and opportunities, leave their hometowns, enduring hardships year after year. Compared to the abstract descriptions in words, the visual records hold unique value and are even more precious. During the 1990s, the photographer spent a full decade documenting this vast and mobile population. Their joys and sorrows, their struggles and unions, their voices, their aspirations, their demands, and their circumstances are all captured in the images of this book.