This reminded of my first visit to China from Hong Kong by train after mid 90s before 1997. I took photos on a tube in Peking and was noticed by a couple of intellectuals who came up to me asking in the order of Japanese, English, then eventually in Mandarin why I took their photos. They followed and got hold of me on the platform, broke the flash of my camera and sent me to the police station that was on the platform. I was forced to take the roll of slide out of my camera for the police to process, and returned a couple of days later to retrieve the film. I did not get any compensation from the couple for the broken flash, I think I forgot to ask for that. The police asked me why I took photos of peasants squatting and sleeping on the corridor between carriages, and messy food materials in the dinning carriage, on the train from Shenzhen to Peking. They gave me a long lecture of how these ‘undignified’ photos hurt the dignity of Chinese people. I think that couple wasn’t in the photos and forgot if the police cut out any frames from my slides, they probably did. I learned from that experience that photography is a very sensitive and eye-catching activity inside China. I got myself into troubles with police and ordinary citizens a couple more times in separate trips to China after that visit too. Wanna share your first visit to China here? chinafile/dawn-china
Posted on: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 05:53:21 +0000