| Folks either planning a vacation to China or returning | | | | books about China. Carter's eye is on the long-ignored |
| from one would do well to pick up a copy of Tom | | | | PEOPLE. He writes in his book, "...a look at the ordinary |
| Carter's new photography book, CHINA: Portrait of a | | | | people who don't make the international headlines, yet |
| People. | | | | are the heart and sole of this country." |
| If your photos are not as great as you wish they coud | | | | Readers will be fascinated by how small in shape this |
| be, or if you are intimated by photographing people, | | | | book is (5"x5"), making it an ideal souvenir or gift for |
| Carter inspires with 800 portraits of Chinese people. If | | | | anyone you know interested in China. Yet the density |
| your tour was constricted to the cliched | | | | of its 639 pages is enough to keep a reader absorbed |
| Beijing-Shaanxi-Yangtze-Sichuan-Shanghai route like | | | | for days after you return to China. I bought two on |
| ours was, you will be indebted to Carter for visiting all | | | | Amazon - one for myself and one for my aunt, who |
| of China's 33 provinces and over 200 cities and | | | | adopted a baby Chinese girl. I think the photos in this |
| villages during his 2-year backpacking quest. And if you | | | | book will be a beautiful way for that little girl to learn |
| are seeking that perfect souvenir of China, a | | | | about her homeland until a time that she can visit there. |
| keepsake that you will treasure and always want to | | | | Looking at pictures of the Great Wall will teach her |
| look at, and if you think that a Mao watch or a fake- | | | | little; but seeing portraits of people from her own |
| cheongsam or a pirated DVD won't do the trick, then | | | | province, and how those people look differently than |
| having CHINA: Portrait of a People on your bookshelf | | | | the Chinese in other provinces, will be invaluable to her |
| will. | | | | edification. |
| Why, CHINA: Portrait of a People, instead of, say, | | | | To conclude, just trust me and take a look at, CHINA: |
| National Geographic? Because unlike those archaic | | | | Portrait of a People, before buying any other books |
| images, Carter shows us the many faces of NEW | | | | about China. You will be instantly reeled in by the |
| China - punk rockers and coal miners and hookers and | | | | seemingly infinite range of photos of China that Tom |
| factory girls. He could care less about the tourist | | | | Carter has put together. |
| attractions that fill the pages of so many other picture | | | | |