A migrant child on the special train [China.org.cn]

Photographer:

Jin Yongquan was born in 1968 and got his masters degree from China Renmin University. He is now director of the photography department at China Youth Daily. He has attended a news photography seminar in Tokyo and worked as curator of Pingyao International Photography Festival. He began to do documentary photography in 2000 and spent 5 years covering the migrants of the three gorges. His works have been exhibited at the Pingyao International Photography Festival, the Pompidou Centre and others.

 

Jin Yongquan's "The Three Yangtze River Gorges" depicts the complete process of native people moving from their homeland for the construction of the three gorges. Chinese state-owned media described this large-scale migration as a national policy for future economic development, but Jin's photos uncover several complex problems that resulted for the people. The pictures are taken from the migrants' perspective to show the huge devastation to local ecology, as well as their sadness and mental loss facing the unknown future. "The Three Yangtze River Gorges" also shows Jin's calmness and moral standpoint as a person with a conscience. (curator: Zeng Huang)