The January issue of That's Shanghai features profiles of and pictures from five of our favorite Shanghai photographers from the past year. Andrew Rochfort gave us 'Behind the Bund', Sue Anne Tayis the mastermind behind Shanghai Street Stories and now Darrell Lew gives us Ethnic Minorities.
“I have come to find ethnic minorities to be incredibly interesting. It’s amazing how their old traditions, culture, dress and way of life still exist today. I wanted to capture this photographically before these places are overrun by tourism.”
Farmers tending to their newly planted crops in the Longji Rice Terraces.
For this series, Darrell Lew traveled to a number of villages inhabited by China’s ethnic minorities; places where local dialects outweigh Putonghua, where people still know how to write ancient pictographs and where the hats are spectacular.
“I like to think that I’m capturing a long-standing history that is soon to be lost or dramatically changed,” he says. “A few places I visited for this project have already shown signs of growth in preparation for increased tourism. There is also a huge migration of the young from these areas, which will soon result in the loss of their everyday traditions, culture and way of life.”
Festive head dress worn by an elderly Yi woman with the beautiful Yulongshan in the background.
Lew, who himself is a third-generation American with Chinese roots, did not grow up with any knowledge of China’s ethnic minorities. “I always thought all Chinese people were just like me - Chinese! How wrong I was! After I learned about the country’s minorities, I started planning photography-centered road trips and workshops in particular regions of China.”
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A Han farmer in the hills above Shuimo village in northern Yunnan Province.
Unsurprisingly, Lew says he loves Yunnan Province, which with 25 ethnic groups is home to the greatest number of minorities in the country.
Yi woman from Boduoluo village of the Baoshan mountains preparing a traditional Yi lunch.
“The clean air, wealth of ‘Old World’ ethnic diversity and the mountainous landscape all create the perfect backdrop to satisfy my curiosity in capturing China.”
Pipe smoking is a favored recreational pastime in this Yi village of the Baoshan Mountains - the tobacco is extremely potent.
Lew also interviews many of his subjects. “In the towns and cities, some folks are much more tourist-savvy and, if you’re not going to buy anything, aren’t that friendly. I have found that folks in these small villages, though, are kind and genuine.”
In a remote Naxi village in the Baoshan Mountains, this gentlemen paused to talk with us about his mask making. He is the villages’ Shaman or Dongba - a very respected and revered title in Naxi culture.
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