Culture: GUIZHOU, A PRECIOUS LAND: Chapter 2

Guizhou province is located is the southwestern region of China. Far from the prosperity of the east and southern coasts it is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped provinces in China. The province has a striking landscape separating towns, villages and cities by a seemingly endless parade of rugged mountains.

Guizhou is rich in ethnic minority culture with 55% of the province's land designated as autonomous minority regions. Minority culture and natural beauty have been at the heart of its growing tourism industry. The province also highlights its communist history to tourists as where the Zunyi conference took place in 1935.

Guiyang and other major cities in Guizhou have seen an influx of rural migrant workers due to rapid urban expansion. This trend of urban development has led to new concerns such as loss of traditional rural culture and environmental stress from increasing in pollution.

My decision to focus on Guizhou province was triggered by its unique attributes in existence with the direction of contemporary China. I wanted to experience a part of the country which still embraced active aspects of the past while eagerly branching out toward the future. Guizhou has an uncommon blend of traditional minority culture, communism, rapid modernization and growing western tendencies. This mix of ideologies and added tension of China's progressive surge has created a dynamic transitional environment. My goal was to make images which intuitively explore this transition through conveying the personality of Guizhou's people and the interaction with their evolving home.