Photos from a land “south of the clouds”
More than 250 people from 60 villages in northern Yunnan province, China, have been given cameras by the United States-based Nature Conservancy. The pictures they have taken provide a record of endangered traditions and landscapes. A nuimber of these photos are now on view at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The exhibition is titled “Voices from South of the Clouds”, a reference to Yunnan, which is Chinese for “south of the clouds”.
Among the photos, some give a panorama of what may be a vanishing way of life: healing rituals and animal sacrifices. Some celebrate scenic splendors which the photographers hadn’t fully appreciated until they saw it in a photograph. Others document hardships: children collecting firewood, or writing their homework on the side of a basket as they accompany their parents to farm plots.
A hidden world, now brought closer by the magic of photography.
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