Hello.
When I started blogging, back several years ago I was passionate and dilligent. Needless to say things have changed.
With the introduction of social media I feel that services like Facebook and Twitter allow me to express my opinions and feelings on a more regular basis and often with "real time" feedback. So, I had to ask the question a few weeks back: should I continue to blog? The answer was yes, but much less regular. I'll continue to blog when I have something long and profound to say, which is rare to say the least.
Until I can muster up the prose to write something interesting, I'll continue to babble and amuse on my social media pages: You can follow me on Facebook & Twitter for more regular updates.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: Is Brazil the New China?
Hello,
I found this article a few days back on Reuters and I thought to myself, wow.....really? It seems that Foxconn and Apple are teaming up to build iPhones and iPads in Brazil. The reason behind it seems to be that Apple is under-performing in Brazil and the consumer market there is growing rapidly as new wealth expands the middle class. High import taxes seem to price most of these products out of reach for most consumers, so why not build them in Brazil and cut prices.
But I think it's important to look beyond just producing for the Brazil market. Foxconn and Apple will most likely aim to export to the rest of South and Central America as well as the United States, and perhaps even in a few decades Foxconn will ship iPads from Brazil to China.
With China's increasing wages, raising currency and a spurt of suicides last year; it's become obvious that the cost of doing business in China is on the way up. Foxconn need to start thinking global if they want to continue to produce high-tech products. We are also less than a decade away from Foxconn opening up a plant in Africa some where as well.
For those people out there who think that China will always be the workshop of of the world, think again. These jobs now flow across borders like trade winds. The moment a country becomes too expensive or "un-friendly" companies move to other countries offering better tax breaks.
I'll never forget back in 2004 when my landlord in Shanghai was telling me how he just moved his factory to Vietnam because China was getting too expensive - and that was 7 years ago. Times are changing. The Foxconn / Brazil / Apple article is below.
___________________________________________________
Original Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/06/us-brazil-foxconn-idUSTRE7454H120110506
Copyright: Reuters
Foxconn Brazil iPad deal facing barriers: reports
Fri, May 6 2011
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn wants to begin assembling iPads in Brazil by July, but it is still seeking tax breaks and other government concessions as part of an investment plan that could be worth up to $12 billion, Brazilian media reported on Friday.
Foxconn Technology Group, maker of Apple Inc's iPhone and iPad, announced its intention to dramatically ramp up production in Brazil last month during a visit to China by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
Foxconn has moved up its desired start date for assembling iPads in Brazil to July from November, seeking to tap massive demand for the device in Brazil's booming consumer market, according to newspapers Estado de S.Paulo and Folha de S.Paulo. Their reports quoted government officials.
"It's a daring timeline. Whatever is within our reach, we're going to work on making that viable," Science and Technology Minister Aloizio Mercadante told Folha.
Foxconn's plans have generated excitement among Brazilian officials, who are hoping their country can move up the value-added manufacturing chain despite extremely high labor costs, taxes and an overvalued currency that have made business difficult for other factories in recent months.
The project could also give Foxconn and Apple a better foothold in Brazil, where high-tech gadgets are often priced out of the market because of import tariffs and production costs. Apple's cheapest iPad currently retails for about $860 in Brazil, versus $400 in the United States.
Several obstacles remain to the deal's full implementation. Rousseff recently received a long letter from Foxconn chief Terry Tou detailing several conditions for both short-term and long-term investments, the reports said, quoting Mercadante.
The company is negotiating tax incentives for production and other measures that would make it easier to import components for local assembly, the reports said. Foxconn also wants government assistance in dispatching 200 Brazilian engineers to China for training as soon as possible.
Foxconn intends to first begin assembling iPads in Brazil using imported parts, and then start producing screens and other parts locally in coming years, the reports said.
Skilled labor shortages and the likely need for a local partner in the venture have caused some Brazilian economic officials to privately question whether the total investment will reach anywhere near $12 billion, the amount cited by Rousseff last month.
The deal will also require funding from Brazil's BNDES state development bank, Mercadante said, which is under pressure to slow loan growth amid a rise in inflation.
___________________________________________________
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
I found this article a few days back on Reuters and I thought to myself, wow.....really? It seems that Foxconn and Apple are teaming up to build iPhones and iPads in Brazil. The reason behind it seems to be that Apple is under-performing in Brazil and the consumer market there is growing rapidly as new wealth expands the middle class. High import taxes seem to price most of these products out of reach for most consumers, so why not build them in Brazil and cut prices.
But I think it's important to look beyond just producing for the Brazil market. Foxconn and Apple will most likely aim to export to the rest of South and Central America as well as the United States, and perhaps even in a few decades Foxconn will ship iPads from Brazil to China.
With China's increasing wages, raising currency and a spurt of suicides last year; it's become obvious that the cost of doing business in China is on the way up. Foxconn need to start thinking global if they want to continue to produce high-tech products. We are also less than a decade away from Foxconn opening up a plant in Africa some where as well.
For those people out there who think that China will always be the workshop of of the world, think again. These jobs now flow across borders like trade winds. The moment a country becomes too expensive or "un-friendly" companies move to other countries offering better tax breaks.
I'll never forget back in 2004 when my landlord in Shanghai was telling me how he just moved his factory to Vietnam because China was getting too expensive - and that was 7 years ago. Times are changing. The Foxconn / Brazil / Apple article is below.
___________________________________________________
Original Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/06/us-brazil-foxconn-idUSTRE7454H120110506
Copyright: Reuters
Foxconn Brazil iPad deal facing barriers: reports
Fri, May 6 2011
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn wants to begin assembling iPads in Brazil by July, but it is still seeking tax breaks and other government concessions as part of an investment plan that could be worth up to $12 billion, Brazilian media reported on Friday.
Foxconn Technology Group, maker of Apple Inc's iPhone and iPad, announced its intention to dramatically ramp up production in Brazil last month during a visit to China by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
Foxconn has moved up its desired start date for assembling iPads in Brazil to July from November, seeking to tap massive demand for the device in Brazil's booming consumer market, according to newspapers Estado de S.Paulo and Folha de S.Paulo. Their reports quoted government officials.
"It's a daring timeline. Whatever is within our reach, we're going to work on making that viable," Science and Technology Minister Aloizio Mercadante told Folha.
Foxconn's plans have generated excitement among Brazilian officials, who are hoping their country can move up the value-added manufacturing chain despite extremely high labor costs, taxes and an overvalued currency that have made business difficult for other factories in recent months.
The project could also give Foxconn and Apple a better foothold in Brazil, where high-tech gadgets are often priced out of the market because of import tariffs and production costs. Apple's cheapest iPad currently retails for about $860 in Brazil, versus $400 in the United States.
Several obstacles remain to the deal's full implementation. Rousseff recently received a long letter from Foxconn chief Terry Tou detailing several conditions for both short-term and long-term investments, the reports said, quoting Mercadante.
The company is negotiating tax incentives for production and other measures that would make it easier to import components for local assembly, the reports said. Foxconn also wants government assistance in dispatching 200 Brazilian engineers to China for training as soon as possible.
Foxconn intends to first begin assembling iPads in Brazil using imported parts, and then start producing screens and other parts locally in coming years, the reports said.
Skilled labor shortages and the likely need for a local partner in the venture have caused some Brazilian economic officials to privately question whether the total investment will reach anywhere near $12 billion, the amount cited by Rousseff last month.
The deal will also require funding from Brazil's BNDES state development bank, Mercadante said, which is under pressure to slow loan growth amid a rise in inflation.
___________________________________________________
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Friday, May 06, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: Article - Hurt on Assignment?
Hello,
In light of some of the world events that have happened this year, an Arab Spring, a Tsunami and a Civil War; there has been a rush of photographers who have selflessly thrown themselves in to danger to report the story visually. Some of been badly injured. Some have died. But do all photographers who report on this kind of news actually know the risks involved and know what can happen to you if you get hurt in the line of work.
This article by Jay Malin is pretty revealing when it comes to just how expendable, and how vulnerable, photographers really are. I'm very found of photographers who can risk their own lives to report on dangerous stories, if it wasn't for them how would we ever know what things "look like" on the ground. But the risks, as we've learned this year, are absolute.
_____________________________________________________________
Copyright: PDN Magazine
ORIGINAL LINK
What To Expect If You’re Injured on Assignment
MAY 03, 2011
By Jay Mallin
[Editor's Note: This article was researched and written in March, weeks before the April 20 rocket attack in Misrata, Libya, which killed two photojournalists and also wounded two others. The injured were not on assignment. Thanks to help from many colleagues, the injured were evacuated and are now recovering; however, we believe the questions this article raises remain relevant.]
When Bangkok-based photographer Philip Blenkinsop returned home after having a bomb blow up a few feet in front of him while photographing in southern Thailand for Time Asia, he got a lesson in the sort of assistance and protection freelancers on assignment can expect from their clients.
“I had a lovely bouquet of flowers waiting for me when I got home,” remembers Blenkinsop. “And I was offered an extra day rate.”
To be fair, Blenkinsop, who had won recognition for his previous work for Time, says he did not ask his editors for any special consideration after the blast, and initial reports indicated his injuries were not serious. But the effects of the 2007 incident left him unable to work for about eight months. Of the flowers and the extra money, he says, “It felt a little like after carrying someone’s bags for 10 kilometers through the streets of Paris or New York, they’d tipped you a dollar, you know?”
With multiple wars, revolutions and a possible nuclear disaster, 2011 is shaping up as an unusually dangerous year for journalists. At least three photographers died in conflicts in the first three months of the year, while others suffered permanent injuries and hazards like kidnapping. Also on the minds of many is Joao Silva, recovering from a mine explosion that took both his legs in Afghanistan.
Incidents like Silva’s might be expected to spark discussions among photojournalists and their photo editors. Instead, many photographers and clients are treating the “what if’s” of a photographer injured or killed in the same way they always have— with silence.
“I don’t know how many years I’ve been working for different magazines [and] I’ve never seen anything in any contract that says anything about what happens if I get shot or killed or get my legs broken,” says Teru Kuwayama, who was injured in a car crash in Pakistan in 2009 that saw the driver killed and another photographer injured.
As for the clients, when contacted by PDN they were uniformly unwilling to talk. Editors and spokespeople either declined to speak for publication or were simply unreachable.
“We don’t discuss personnel matters,” said Daniel Kile, executive director of public relations for Time.
“They just don’t like me talking about it,” explained an editor at another publication.
At The New York Times, which has been praised for hiring long-time freelancer Silva as a staffer after he lost both his legs below the knees to a landmine, an editor was similarly reluctant to say anything.
Photographers themselves seem split between those who’ve never addressed the issue at all, and those who trust in a combination of passed-on lore (“use a platinum American Express card to qualify for free medevac”), half-remembered precedents (an anecdote that photojournalist Tim Page successfully sued Time magazine following his Vietnam-era brain injury), and faith in the compassion and camaraderie of their photo editors.
“[Photographers] assume—especially with publications that they have good relationships with—you make this assumption that they are going to take care of you if something happens,” says Ron Haviv, a photographer with VII Photo Agency who has covered conflicts around the world. “But I don’t think anyone knows in the end what will happen when you start getting people outside our circle involved, like lawyers and corporate people.”
Haviv has it right there, says one editor who was willing to discuss the subject, thanks to having moved on to a job in academia. Tom Kennedy, Alexia Foundation Chair Professor for Documentary Photography at Syracuse, has worked as director of photography for National Geographic and editor for Washingtonpost.com.
“I don’t know that there is an industry standard,” Kennedy says. “I think it’s very much company by company, and I think it is somewhat contingent obviously on what company practice is as dictated by lawyers.” Corporate lawyers may overrule photo editors who want to do what they can for colleagues.
“My experience is that the legal department and to some extent HR [human resources] tend to drive the contractual arrangements that an organization settles on,” Kennedy says. “Most organizations that I am familiar with that are working with freelancers regard them as independent contractors who are responsible for their own insurance, their own well-being.”
That was different at Geographic, he says, where contracts specified that the magazine did take on some of the risks. And conversations with photographers and editors who spoke off the record showed that in some cases, with some publications, magazines do take precautions like buying insurance for photographers being sent into unusually dangerous areas. But it’s often not discussed, and it’s not standard practice.
Veteran photojournalists say there has been an evolution in the industry’s approach to the problem since Operation Desert Storm in 1990. In the Nineties, the Balkan wars and Chechnya coincided with a decision by magazines to turn from assignments and day-rates to space guarantees. With a guarantee, a magazine pays the photographer a minimum fee (expenses are typically not included) in exchange for a first look at the photographers’ pictures. Many photographers believe the move from assignments to the more arm’s length guarantee arrangements made it easier for publications to cut loose freelancers in trouble.
That doesn’t mean they always were cut loose—photographers say there have been many cases where magazine publishing companies have helped photographers, even those who were not on assignment. At the same time, others on assignment found such assistance was not granted. (The local drivers and translators news organizations rely on in dangerous areas are typically paid by the day; provisions are rarely made in the event they are injured or killed in the line of work.)
Some photographers signed on for combat-zone training offered by former Special Air Service-types in Britain. A benefit of that training was it allowed them to qualify for specialized war-zone insurance at rates photographers could afford—Haviv remembers paying about $1,600 annually for coverage good in most countries.
He has since turned to insurance through Reporters Without Borders (http://en.rsf.org/), which starts at 1.4 Euros a day and increases depending on the country and the benefits desired: medical, evacuation, dismemberment, death.
Haviv believes the costs of such insurance should automatically be part of the conversation between editors and photographers, and added to the invoice like the costs of fixers and hotel rooms. In workshops he teaches for aspiring photojournalists, Haviv tells students: “You just have to make sure you are taking care of yourself in every way possible. You can’t really rely on a corporation, even though you are friends with the editor you are working with.”
How well that message gets out to photographers in the field is questionable. During the uprising in Tahrir Square and the intervention in Libya, for instance, the editor who asked not be quoted said he was flooded with e-mails like one he forwarded: “Dear [name of editor not even filled in], I will be in Libya from the 1st of April. I’ll be moving to the frontline from the East. If you have any interest, requests or ideas, feel free to let me know.”
He wonders how to respond: “Do I say, ‘Yes, I want to see your stuff! Fantastic! Exclusive material for us! And I don’t want to hear from you tomorrow—especially if you get hurt’?”
For a different model of how to handle the situation, American editors and photographers could look to European countries. Photographer Harald Henden covers armed conflicts for the Norwegian newspaper VG. Henden, reached on his way back into Libya, says the practice in Norway today was shaped by a 2008 attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul in which war correspondent Carsten Thomassen was injured.
“I found him a few minutes later and we basically worked very hard to keep him alive for like two hours before we were able to have him evacuated,” remembers Henden. Thomassen went into shock and died a short time later at a military hospital. Henden says that brought major changes to how Scandinavian publications handle war coverage.
“After this, no Norwegian publication sends someone to war zones without some kind of security and first-aid training,” he says. In addition, “anybody who goes into that kind of area for my newspaper [or others in the region] would be fully covered by a special war-zone insurance [paid for by the paper]. The editors take the responsibility of sending personnel into these kinds of areas much more seriously now,” and at VG, they normally refuse to send freelancers at all.
Henden and others like him have an additional safety net. In Norway and similar countries, if an injured photographer can just make it back to his or her home country, all medical expenses are covered by national healthcare.
Turning away work by freelancers—or at least uninsured free- lancers—might be too draconian a solution for the American market. But ending the general silence on the subject of “when things go sideways”—as one photographer termed it—might be possible.
Peter van Agtmael, a Magnum photographer who was beaten in Tahrir Square this year while on assignment for the Wall Street Journal, says he never discussed the possibility of anything like that with his editor before rushing to Egypt. “The subject, ‘Hey, in case something happens, where does your responsibility lie,’ it didn’t come up.” After he was attacked, the paper quickly said it would take care of getting him out of the country and any medical bills, he says. But van Agtmael added, “I should look at the contract itself.
“I’ve always thought of it as an implied social compact, but I really don’t know. I’ve been lax, and relying on the good will of large media conglomerates to take care of this.”
_____________________________________________________________
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
In light of some of the world events that have happened this year, an Arab Spring, a Tsunami and a Civil War; there has been a rush of photographers who have selflessly thrown themselves in to danger to report the story visually. Some of been badly injured. Some have died. But do all photographers who report on this kind of news actually know the risks involved and know what can happen to you if you get hurt in the line of work.
This article by Jay Malin is pretty revealing when it comes to just how expendable, and how vulnerable, photographers really are. I'm very found of photographers who can risk their own lives to report on dangerous stories, if it wasn't for them how would we ever know what things "look like" on the ground. But the risks, as we've learned this year, are absolute.
_____________________________________________________________
Copyright: PDN Magazine
ORIGINAL LINK
What To Expect If You’re Injured on Assignment
MAY 03, 2011
By Jay Mallin
[Editor's Note: This article was researched and written in March, weeks before the April 20 rocket attack in Misrata, Libya, which killed two photojournalists and also wounded two others. The injured were not on assignment. Thanks to help from many colleagues, the injured were evacuated and are now recovering; however, we believe the questions this article raises remain relevant.]
When Bangkok-based photographer Philip Blenkinsop returned home after having a bomb blow up a few feet in front of him while photographing in southern Thailand for Time Asia, he got a lesson in the sort of assistance and protection freelancers on assignment can expect from their clients.
“I had a lovely bouquet of flowers waiting for me when I got home,” remembers Blenkinsop. “And I was offered an extra day rate.”
To be fair, Blenkinsop, who had won recognition for his previous work for Time, says he did not ask his editors for any special consideration after the blast, and initial reports indicated his injuries were not serious. But the effects of the 2007 incident left him unable to work for about eight months. Of the flowers and the extra money, he says, “It felt a little like after carrying someone’s bags for 10 kilometers through the streets of Paris or New York, they’d tipped you a dollar, you know?”
With multiple wars, revolutions and a possible nuclear disaster, 2011 is shaping up as an unusually dangerous year for journalists. At least three photographers died in conflicts in the first three months of the year, while others suffered permanent injuries and hazards like kidnapping. Also on the minds of many is Joao Silva, recovering from a mine explosion that took both his legs in Afghanistan.
Incidents like Silva’s might be expected to spark discussions among photojournalists and their photo editors. Instead, many photographers and clients are treating the “what if’s” of a photographer injured or killed in the same way they always have— with silence.
“I don’t know how many years I’ve been working for different magazines [and] I’ve never seen anything in any contract that says anything about what happens if I get shot or killed or get my legs broken,” says Teru Kuwayama, who was injured in a car crash in Pakistan in 2009 that saw the driver killed and another photographer injured.
As for the clients, when contacted by PDN they were uniformly unwilling to talk. Editors and spokespeople either declined to speak for publication or were simply unreachable.
“We don’t discuss personnel matters,” said Daniel Kile, executive director of public relations for Time.
“They just don’t like me talking about it,” explained an editor at another publication.
At The New York Times, which has been praised for hiring long-time freelancer Silva as a staffer after he lost both his legs below the knees to a landmine, an editor was similarly reluctant to say anything.
Photographers themselves seem split between those who’ve never addressed the issue at all, and those who trust in a combination of passed-on lore (“use a platinum American Express card to qualify for free medevac”), half-remembered precedents (an anecdote that photojournalist Tim Page successfully sued Time magazine following his Vietnam-era brain injury), and faith in the compassion and camaraderie of their photo editors.
“[Photographers] assume—especially with publications that they have good relationships with—you make this assumption that they are going to take care of you if something happens,” says Ron Haviv, a photographer with VII Photo Agency who has covered conflicts around the world. “But I don’t think anyone knows in the end what will happen when you start getting people outside our circle involved, like lawyers and corporate people.”
Haviv has it right there, says one editor who was willing to discuss the subject, thanks to having moved on to a job in academia. Tom Kennedy, Alexia Foundation Chair Professor for Documentary Photography at Syracuse, has worked as director of photography for National Geographic and editor for Washingtonpost.com.
“I don’t know that there is an industry standard,” Kennedy says. “I think it’s very much company by company, and I think it is somewhat contingent obviously on what company practice is as dictated by lawyers.” Corporate lawyers may overrule photo editors who want to do what they can for colleagues.
“My experience is that the legal department and to some extent HR [human resources] tend to drive the contractual arrangements that an organization settles on,” Kennedy says. “Most organizations that I am familiar with that are working with freelancers regard them as independent contractors who are responsible for their own insurance, their own well-being.”
That was different at Geographic, he says, where contracts specified that the magazine did take on some of the risks. And conversations with photographers and editors who spoke off the record showed that in some cases, with some publications, magazines do take precautions like buying insurance for photographers being sent into unusually dangerous areas. But it’s often not discussed, and it’s not standard practice.
Veteran photojournalists say there has been an evolution in the industry’s approach to the problem since Operation Desert Storm in 1990. In the Nineties, the Balkan wars and Chechnya coincided with a decision by magazines to turn from assignments and day-rates to space guarantees. With a guarantee, a magazine pays the photographer a minimum fee (expenses are typically not included) in exchange for a first look at the photographers’ pictures. Many photographers believe the move from assignments to the more arm’s length guarantee arrangements made it easier for publications to cut loose freelancers in trouble.
That doesn’t mean they always were cut loose—photographers say there have been many cases where magazine publishing companies have helped photographers, even those who were not on assignment. At the same time, others on assignment found such assistance was not granted. (The local drivers and translators news organizations rely on in dangerous areas are typically paid by the day; provisions are rarely made in the event they are injured or killed in the line of work.)
Some photographers signed on for combat-zone training offered by former Special Air Service-types in Britain. A benefit of that training was it allowed them to qualify for specialized war-zone insurance at rates photographers could afford—Haviv remembers paying about $1,600 annually for coverage good in most countries.
He has since turned to insurance through Reporters Without Borders (http://en.rsf.org/), which starts at 1.4 Euros a day and increases depending on the country and the benefits desired: medical, evacuation, dismemberment, death.
Haviv believes the costs of such insurance should automatically be part of the conversation between editors and photographers, and added to the invoice like the costs of fixers and hotel rooms. In workshops he teaches for aspiring photojournalists, Haviv tells students: “You just have to make sure you are taking care of yourself in every way possible. You can’t really rely on a corporation, even though you are friends with the editor you are working with.”
How well that message gets out to photographers in the field is questionable. During the uprising in Tahrir Square and the intervention in Libya, for instance, the editor who asked not be quoted said he was flooded with e-mails like one he forwarded: “Dear [name of editor not even filled in], I will be in Libya from the 1st of April. I’ll be moving to the frontline from the East. If you have any interest, requests or ideas, feel free to let me know.”
He wonders how to respond: “Do I say, ‘Yes, I want to see your stuff! Fantastic! Exclusive material for us! And I don’t want to hear from you tomorrow—especially if you get hurt’?”
For a different model of how to handle the situation, American editors and photographers could look to European countries. Photographer Harald Henden covers armed conflicts for the Norwegian newspaper VG. Henden, reached on his way back into Libya, says the practice in Norway today was shaped by a 2008 attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul in which war correspondent Carsten Thomassen was injured.
“I found him a few minutes later and we basically worked very hard to keep him alive for like two hours before we were able to have him evacuated,” remembers Henden. Thomassen went into shock and died a short time later at a military hospital. Henden says that brought major changes to how Scandinavian publications handle war coverage.
“After this, no Norwegian publication sends someone to war zones without some kind of security and first-aid training,” he says. In addition, “anybody who goes into that kind of area for my newspaper [or others in the region] would be fully covered by a special war-zone insurance [paid for by the paper]. The editors take the responsibility of sending personnel into these kinds of areas much more seriously now,” and at VG, they normally refuse to send freelancers at all.
Henden and others like him have an additional safety net. In Norway and similar countries, if an injured photographer can just make it back to his or her home country, all medical expenses are covered by national healthcare.
Turning away work by freelancers—or at least uninsured free- lancers—might be too draconian a solution for the American market. But ending the general silence on the subject of “when things go sideways”—as one photographer termed it—might be possible.
Peter van Agtmael, a Magnum photographer who was beaten in Tahrir Square this year while on assignment for the Wall Street Journal, says he never discussed the possibility of anything like that with his editor before rushing to Egypt. “The subject, ‘Hey, in case something happens, where does your responsibility lie,’ it didn’t come up.” After he was attacked, the paper quickly said it would take care of getting him out of the country and any medical bills, he says. But van Agtmael added, “I should look at the contract itself.
“I’ve always thought of it as an implied social compact, but I really don’t know. I’ve been lax, and relying on the good will of large media conglomerates to take care of this.”
_____________________________________________________________
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Friday, April 29, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: The Gap Between Rich & Poor
Hello.
For anyone out there who has had this conversation with me, they will know that I feel very strongly about the destabilizing force that the gap between rich and poor is creating in China. Those who have moved in to the cities in search of a better life has more or less found some version of it, those who have stayed behind in rural China have fallen even further behind. The question is why?
China's political leaders have, for the last 30 years, have focused entirely on developing China's cities. And, for the most part they have done a good job. But their focus on China's urban centers has left behind some 70% of the countries population (rural residents) who still have to deal with an often kleptocratic and corrupt local government. So if the gap between rich and poor is so great and the life quality between China's urban and rural residents so large, how does China keep it's 700 million farmers happy? What keeps them loyal to the system that consistently see's them losing out to urban residents? It's a question I have never been able to answer.
One of the most interesting developments in China over the last five years or so has been the media's aggressive push to publish corruption scandals in Chinese newspapers throughout the mainland. In the past year alone there have been several full page spreads about massive corruption at China's SOE's as well as within the government ranks. Leading me to ask the same question again, what keeps this current system afloat? Stability? Fear?
Earlier this year, while 700 million Chinese were living day-to-day, the world learned that the Chairman and CEO of China's High-speed Rail Network at embezzled over USD 100 million and held 18 mistresses; a life style and an amount of money that could never be comprehended in rural China. To top it off his position was mainly a political posting in a publicly traded State Owned Enterprise.
With the gap between rural and urban residents getting bigger, how much longer will people stand for this kind of rampant corruption that exists in China? Perhaps the bigger question, beyond corruption, is just the blatant stupidity shown on a weekly basis by China's privileged class. Below is an article by Reuters that indicates a Sinopec Executive has been disciplined for spending over USD 230,000 on alcohol for a lavish party. Many of the bottles of local alcohol cost USD 1,500 each, as much as 5 times the annual income of a farmer in rural China. Another example of insane decision making by a privileged member of China's SEO elite.
At some stage the political and economic elite in China are going to have to realize that their jobs and careers, and perhaps this country's stability, are at risk because of the corruption, embezzlement and impotent legal system that exists in China. Institutions need to be stronger than the men/women who hold positions of power. Corruption by government officials and SEO executives is a slap in the face to much of China's 1.3 billion people who are striving to create a better life for themselves and their families.
Also make note of the story below: where did the executive get the USD 230,000 for the alcohol purchase? Was the party a corporate sanction party or a personal party? Was the executive using ill gotten corporate money or personal money? Is there a corruption inquiry going on? There are a lot of unanswered questions here. My guess, knowing how things work in China, is that this guy bought the booze using company money and it was sanctioned by corporate bosses and the alcohol was used for corporate smoozing. The equivalent of a big weekend in Vegas. But once the purchase popped up in online chat rooms someone needed to "take the fall" to save the public reputation of the company.
________________________________________________________________
Original Story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/25/us-sinopec-drinks-idUSTRE73O3VX20110425
Copyright: Reuters
April 25th 2011
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese oil refining giant Sinopec has demoted a top executive who bought 1.6 million yuan ($245,900) of wine and spirits after details of the purchase leaked onto the Internet and sparked an uproar over extravagance at the state-owned firm.
Sinopec, which is Asia's top refiner, said Monday that it had demoted Lu Guangyu, who was general manager at the company's operations in the southern province of Guangdong, for "seriously harming Sinopec's image."
The company also fined Lu an unspecified sum and ordered him to pay back 130,000 yuan for alcohol he and his associates had already drunk, it said in a statement on its website (www.sinopecgroup.com).
His purchases included 480 bottles of Moutai, an expensive Chinese liquor traditionally drunk at state banquets, Sinopec said, adding it had re-sold bottles which had not already been drunk.
Some of the bottles cost almost 12,000 yuan each -- far more than the average Chinese earns in a month.
State media and China's spirited internet users said the purchase of the alcohol, which was meant for internal company use, was especially galling considering how much gasoline and diesel prices had risen recently.
Many Chinese are also struggling to make ends meet as inflation climbs. Consumer prices rose 5.4 percent in the year to March.
Sinopec Corp is the company's listed arm. ($1 = 6.507 Chinese Yuan)
________________________________________________________________
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
For anyone out there who has had this conversation with me, they will know that I feel very strongly about the destabilizing force that the gap between rich and poor is creating in China. Those who have moved in to the cities in search of a better life has more or less found some version of it, those who have stayed behind in rural China have fallen even further behind. The question is why?
China's political leaders have, for the last 30 years, have focused entirely on developing China's cities. And, for the most part they have done a good job. But their focus on China's urban centers has left behind some 70% of the countries population (rural residents) who still have to deal with an often kleptocratic and corrupt local government. So if the gap between rich and poor is so great and the life quality between China's urban and rural residents so large, how does China keep it's 700 million farmers happy? What keeps them loyal to the system that consistently see's them losing out to urban residents? It's a question I have never been able to answer.
One of the most interesting developments in China over the last five years or so has been the media's aggressive push to publish corruption scandals in Chinese newspapers throughout the mainland. In the past year alone there have been several full page spreads about massive corruption at China's SOE's as well as within the government ranks. Leading me to ask the same question again, what keeps this current system afloat? Stability? Fear?
Earlier this year, while 700 million Chinese were living day-to-day, the world learned that the Chairman and CEO of China's High-speed Rail Network at embezzled over USD 100 million and held 18 mistresses; a life style and an amount of money that could never be comprehended in rural China. To top it off his position was mainly a political posting in a publicly traded State Owned Enterprise.
With the gap between rural and urban residents getting bigger, how much longer will people stand for this kind of rampant corruption that exists in China? Perhaps the bigger question, beyond corruption, is just the blatant stupidity shown on a weekly basis by China's privileged class. Below is an article by Reuters that indicates a Sinopec Executive has been disciplined for spending over USD 230,000 on alcohol for a lavish party. Many of the bottles of local alcohol cost USD 1,500 each, as much as 5 times the annual income of a farmer in rural China. Another example of insane decision making by a privileged member of China's SEO elite.
At some stage the political and economic elite in China are going to have to realize that their jobs and careers, and perhaps this country's stability, are at risk because of the corruption, embezzlement and impotent legal system that exists in China. Institutions need to be stronger than the men/women who hold positions of power. Corruption by government officials and SEO executives is a slap in the face to much of China's 1.3 billion people who are striving to create a better life for themselves and their families.
Also make note of the story below: where did the executive get the USD 230,000 for the alcohol purchase? Was the party a corporate sanction party or a personal party? Was the executive using ill gotten corporate money or personal money? Is there a corruption inquiry going on? There are a lot of unanswered questions here. My guess, knowing how things work in China, is that this guy bought the booze using company money and it was sanctioned by corporate bosses and the alcohol was used for corporate smoozing. The equivalent of a big weekend in Vegas. But once the purchase popped up in online chat rooms someone needed to "take the fall" to save the public reputation of the company.
________________________________________________________________
Original Story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/25/us-sinopec-drinks-idUSTRE73O3VX20110425
Copyright: Reuters
April 25th 2011
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese oil refining giant Sinopec has demoted a top executive who bought 1.6 million yuan ($245,900) of wine and spirits after details of the purchase leaked onto the Internet and sparked an uproar over extravagance at the state-owned firm.
Sinopec, which is Asia's top refiner, said Monday that it had demoted Lu Guangyu, who was general manager at the company's operations in the southern province of Guangdong, for "seriously harming Sinopec's image."
The company also fined Lu an unspecified sum and ordered him to pay back 130,000 yuan for alcohol he and his associates had already drunk, it said in a statement on its website (www.sinopecgroup.com).
His purchases included 480 bottles of Moutai, an expensive Chinese liquor traditionally drunk at state banquets, Sinopec said, adding it had re-sold bottles which had not already been drunk.
Some of the bottles cost almost 12,000 yuan each -- far more than the average Chinese earns in a month.
State media and China's spirited internet users said the purchase of the alcohol, which was meant for internal company use, was especially galling considering how much gasoline and diesel prices had risen recently.
Many Chinese are also struggling to make ends meet as inflation climbs. Consumer prices rose 5.4 percent in the year to March.
Sinopec Corp is the company's listed arm. ($1 = 6.507 Chinese Yuan)
________________________________________________________________
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Friday, April 15, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: REMINDER - TONIGHT - MKRIDE @ UofT
Hello,
I just wanted to update all our MKRIDE Fans that I'll be speaking publicly, for the first time, about The Middle Kingdom Ride, that I completed with my brother Colin Pyle in late 2010. Our 65 day - 18,000km - motorcycle journey earned us both a place in the book of Guinness World Records for the most kilometers completed in a single country. A brief is below. Please be sure to RSVP at the following LINK.
Details:
The Middle Kingdom Ride
Brothers Colin and Ryan Pyle’s circumnavigation of China by motorcycle
Friday, April 15
6:30-8:30 pm
Innis Town Hall
2 Sussex Avenue
(at St. George, south of Bloor)
Join award-winning documentary photographer Ryan Pyle (University of Toronto graduate and AI Affiliate Member) for a discussion of his photography career, his motorcycle expedition, and the challenges of filmmaking. Samples of his photography and video clips from his motorcycle film will be included in the lecture.
An informal reception will follow.
An Asian Heritage Month Event | Register online at www.utoronto.ca/ai
_________________________________________
Cheers,
Ryan Pyle
Motorcycle Rider, Producer, Director, Photographer
Guinness World Record Holder
Film: The Middle Kingdom Ride
A 65 day - 18,000km - Motorcycle Adventure through China
www.mkride.com / ryan@mkride.com
**Charitable Partner** - SEVA FOUNDATION
**Corporate Sponsors** - The Middle Kingdom Ride could not have happened without our wonderful corporate sponsors:
BMW China, Touratech, The Tomson Group, Airhawk, Pelican Products, Kodak, Oakley,
Cardo Systems, Lowe Pro & Mandarin House.
You can follow The MKRIDE at:
@ YOUTUBE
@ http://twitter.com/#!/MK_Ride
Friday, April 08, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: MKRIDE Lecture @ University of Toronto
Hello,
I just wanted to update all our MKRIDE Fans that I'll be speaking publicly, for the first time, about The Middle Kingdom Ride, that I completed with my brother Colin Pyle in late 2010. Our 65 day - 18,000km - motorcycle journey earned us both a place in the book of Guinness World Records for the most kilometers completed in a single country. A brief is below. Please be sure to RSVP at the following LINK.
Details:
The Middle Kingdom Ride
Brothers Colin and Ryan Pyle’s circumnavigation of China by motorcycle
Friday, April 15
6:30-8:30 pm
Innis Town Hall
2 Sussex Avenue
(at St. George, south of Bloor)
Join award-winning documentary photographer Ryan Pyle (University of Toronto graduate and AI Affiliate Member) for a discussion of his photography career, his motorcycle expedition, and the challenges of filmmaking. Samples of his photography and video clips from his motorcycle film will be included in the lecture.
An informal reception will follow.
An Asian Heritage Month Event | Register online at www.utoronto.ca/ai
_________________________________________
Cheers,
Ryan Pyle
Motorcycle Rider, Producer, Director, Photographer
Guinness World Record Holder
Film: The Middle Kingdom Ride
A 65 day - 18,000km - Motorcycle Adventure through China
www.mkride.com / ryan@mkride.com
**Charitable Partner** - SEVA FOUNDATION
**Corporate Sponsors** - The Middle Kingdom Ride could not have happened without our wonderful corporate sponsors:
BMW China, Touratech, The Tomson Group, Airhawk, Pelican Products, Kodak, Oakley,
Cardo Systems, Lowe Pro & Mandarin House.
You can follow The MKRIDE at:
@ YOUTUBE
@ http://twitter.com/#!/MK_Ride
Friday, April 01, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: Where Did All The Features Go?
Hello.
In terms of breaking news consumption, the first quarter of 2011 has been intense.
We've had an Arab spring, a devastating earthquake in New Zealand and an double-catastrophe in Japan that as shocked us in to a realization of our fragile our existence is in this world.
And through all that we've had journalists running around dodging bullets, getting arrested, having their lives threatened and working within range of a major nuclear disaster. As one correspondent on CNN mentioned, we've had a years worth of international news coverage in the first 3 months of 2011. So, given that I write a blog about what's it is like being a photographer, and I am pretty self absorbed, my big question is: what does all this mean for people like me, the content producer?
Well, sadly it doesn't mean much. You see, I don't chase; I plot. In other words, I am not a breaking news man, I'm a features guy. I'm not very good at chasing the story, or documenting a breaking news story, or working in a war zone. I prefer to lay low, prepare and plot. I like to set traps and execute. The chaos involved in documenting breaking news is not an easy environment to work in; and I have great respect for the people who risk their lives to report in these situations; but I knew long ago that it wasn't for me.
While the crisis in Japan, New Zealand and the wider Middle East has contributed to some excellent news coverage and wonderful commitment by Newspapers and Magazines, it's been all breaking news all the time; and it's been an exhausting journey. So I have to ask: what happened to the feature story? What has happened to the well researched and well executed peace on a historical, business or cultural aspect of a geographical region or a people? There haven't been any, because there are already so few pages in newspapers and magazines and they have devoted, rightly so, much of their content to documenting the breaking news. I might also add here that there has been some stunning photography coming out the of the Middle East and Japan in the wake of these stories developing.
I was at a meeting with a few writers a couple of weeks ago and we were all joking about how impossible it is to pitch a feature story anymore, because there is so much pressure on the editors not to "overspend" that stories have to be basically a sure thing before anything can get "Green Lit"; and we joked about how boring that has become. One of the best parts about being a documentary photographer was the investigation aspect of the job, about not knowing what it would all look like until you got there, about trying to piece it all together for the folks in New York and London. Now everyone wants a storyboard of what the feature will look like when you don't exactly know what is happening on the ground, which is a huge problem when working in China specifically. Gone are the days of spending time, observing, plotting and executing; because that takes too much time and costs too much money for the newspapers and magazines of today. What's in fashion at the moment, and has been for several years now, is digital breaking news, print first and absorb later. Sure, some of this has worked, some hasn't; but the feature story has an important place in how we share information about what is happening in the world, and this information takes time to collect and it takes time to digest.
Breaking news is obviously crucial, but let's not lose track of the fact that the features stories still have an important role to play in this world of high-tech, speedy content creation.
Note: My blogs often allow me to try my hand at satire. Of course I feel deeply for the people of New Zealand, Japan and the folks striving for greater freedom in the Middle East; I've only used these examples to make a point that the "feature story" is getting lost in the mix of all the breaking news.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
In terms of breaking news consumption, the first quarter of 2011 has been intense.
We've had an Arab spring, a devastating earthquake in New Zealand and an double-catastrophe in Japan that as shocked us in to a realization of our fragile our existence is in this world.
And through all that we've had journalists running around dodging bullets, getting arrested, having their lives threatened and working within range of a major nuclear disaster. As one correspondent on CNN mentioned, we've had a years worth of international news coverage in the first 3 months of 2011. So, given that I write a blog about what's it is like being a photographer, and I am pretty self absorbed, my big question is: what does all this mean for people like me, the content producer?
Well, sadly it doesn't mean much. You see, I don't chase; I plot. In other words, I am not a breaking news man, I'm a features guy. I'm not very good at chasing the story, or documenting a breaking news story, or working in a war zone. I prefer to lay low, prepare and plot. I like to set traps and execute. The chaos involved in documenting breaking news is not an easy environment to work in; and I have great respect for the people who risk their lives to report in these situations; but I knew long ago that it wasn't for me.
While the crisis in Japan, New Zealand and the wider Middle East has contributed to some excellent news coverage and wonderful commitment by Newspapers and Magazines, it's been all breaking news all the time; and it's been an exhausting journey. So I have to ask: what happened to the feature story? What has happened to the well researched and well executed peace on a historical, business or cultural aspect of a geographical region or a people? There haven't been any, because there are already so few pages in newspapers and magazines and they have devoted, rightly so, much of their content to documenting the breaking news. I might also add here that there has been some stunning photography coming out the of the Middle East and Japan in the wake of these stories developing.
I was at a meeting with a few writers a couple of weeks ago and we were all joking about how impossible it is to pitch a feature story anymore, because there is so much pressure on the editors not to "overspend" that stories have to be basically a sure thing before anything can get "Green Lit"; and we joked about how boring that has become. One of the best parts about being a documentary photographer was the investigation aspect of the job, about not knowing what it would all look like until you got there, about trying to piece it all together for the folks in New York and London. Now everyone wants a storyboard of what the feature will look like when you don't exactly know what is happening on the ground, which is a huge problem when working in China specifically. Gone are the days of spending time, observing, plotting and executing; because that takes too much time and costs too much money for the newspapers and magazines of today. What's in fashion at the moment, and has been for several years now, is digital breaking news, print first and absorb later. Sure, some of this has worked, some hasn't; but the feature story has an important place in how we share information about what is happening in the world, and this information takes time to collect and it takes time to digest.
Breaking news is obviously crucial, but let's not lose track of the fact that the features stories still have an important role to play in this world of high-tech, speedy content creation.
Note: My blogs often allow me to try my hand at satire. Of course I feel deeply for the people of New Zealand, Japan and the folks striving for greater freedom in the Middle East; I've only used these examples to make a point that the "feature story" is getting lost in the mix of all the breaking news.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Friday, March 25, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: Guinness World Records
Hello,
In a very round about way, today's blog posting is a "one of a kind". Many of you have followed along as my brother Colin and I rode our motorcycles around China during our 65 day - 18,000km - odyssey. While it was the hardest, and one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, it also appears that it was a first.
My brother and I became the first people to ride a motorcycle around China, and we also were awarded a Guinness World Record for the longest continuous motorcycle journey within a single country. It is a very surreal feeling to know that Colin and I are now Guinness World Record holders for endurance motorcycling. Our press release is below. Please "Like" us on our Facebook page and be sure to stay up to date on our film, DVD and book release.
Online Guinness Record: Follow this LINK.
Follow us on FACEBOOK.
Our Website: www.mkride.com
________________________________________________________
March 21th 2011
PRWEB Press Release
HEADLINE:
Canadian Brothers Set a World Record for their 18,000km Journey around China on BMW Motorcycles.
SUMMARY:
Canadian brothers Colin and Ryan Pyle are honored to receive an award by the Guinness World RecordsTM for their 18,000km odyssey around China on BMW F800GS motorcycles. Their journey will become a documentary film and book entitled The Middle Kingdom Ride.
QUOTE:
"It’s an honor to be recognized by the GWRTM for what was 65 of the most exhilarating, exhausting, and rewarding, days of my life. We have taken our BMW motorcycles through the toughest terrain in the world, and we’re alive to tell the story!” Ryan Pyle
BODY:
On March 09th 2011 Canadian brothers Colin and Ryan Pyle received a confirmation by the Guinness World RecordsTM that they had indeed set a World Record for their motorcycle journey around China. According to the Guinness World RecordsTM the name of the record they received was for the “Longest Journey by Motorcycle in a Single Country”.
Canadian brothers Colin and Ryan Pyle completed their epic motorcycle journey by returning back to Shanghai on Sunday October 17th 2010, after 65 days on the road circumnavigating China on their BMW F800GS motorcycles. Their journey was a unique one, as they have become the first riders to fully circumnavigate China by motorcycle in one single journey. During their remarkable 17,674km odyssey the brothers have encountered some of the most intense changes in culture, weather, altitude and terrain that exist in the world. They tackled heavy rains, flooding, landslides, freak hailstorms, extreme altitude (above 5000m/16,000ft), sand, gravel, thousands of kilometers of road construction and even bureaucratic / military interference.
Colin and Ryan intend to produce both a documentary film and a written book on their experiences in China, which have been far from regular. Anytime someone puts him or herself out there, into the wild, and opens themselves up to the experiences of such a vast and unique country one can’t help but encounter moments of danger, humor, sadness, gratification and personal gain and setback. Their journey will prove to be both colorful and dramatic, both intense and fulfilling.
Colin and Ryan Pyle are brothers from Toronto, Canada. But that’s about all they have in common. Ryan has spent the last decade in China building his career as a http://www.ryanpyle.com [Documentary Photographer]. Colin stayed closer to home, in Toronto, and built up, and sold, his own successful currency trading company. Together they plan to showcase much of China’s change and development from factory to farm. The general purpose of the trip is to put China on display. To explore the visual and cultural wonders that is China. With a massive population, crowded cities, abundant minorities and its stunning natural landscape; China offers a traveler an experience like no other. Colin and Ryan have titled their project, “The Middle Kingdom Ride”, as China’s historical name was once The Middle Kingdom.
Ryan and Colin will be raising money for the http://www.seva.org [SEVA Foundation] during their journey. SEVA, is a San Francisco based charity that has, for more than 30 years, been serving people around the world who are struggling for health, cultural survival and sustainable communities.
You can follow The Middle Kingdom Ride at http://www.mkride.com [MKRIDE.com], http://www.facebook.com/mkride [FACEBOOK], http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMKRIDE [YouTube] and http://twitter.com/MK_Ride [Twitter].
The Middle Kingdom Ride would have never happened without our amazing sponsors: http://www.mandarinhouse.cn [Mandarin House Language School], BMW China, Touratech, The Tomson Group, Airhawk, Pelican Products, Kodak, Oakley, Cardo Systems, and Lowe Pro.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Friday, March 18, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: Being Gay in China
Hello,
I read an article by Nicola Davison a few weeks back on what it was like to be gay in China, and I thought the article was revealing and interesting and well worth sharing. Please be sure that while China has it's own problems with gay people, so does much of the rest of Asia, notably Japan and Muslim Indonesia.
For what my opinion is worth, I really enjoyed this piece by Nicola. I like how she followed the stories of a few people and showed the lengths that people will go to in order to hide who they really are. A copy of the article is below, as is the original link.
__________________________________________________________________
Copyright: SLATE
Original Store: LINK
Title: Gay Marriage With Chinese Characteristics. A visit to a Shanghai fake-marriage market, where lesbians and gay men meet to find a husband or wife.
Written By: Nicola Davison
SHANGHAI, China—"I'm here to find a lesbian, to be with me and to build a home," No. 11 says to the crowd clustered on floor cushions at a sunlit yoga studio in Shanghai. No. 11 is a muscular man in a flannel shirt and cargo pants, and he easily commands the attention of the crowd of 40 or so young men and women who are gingerly sipping glasses of wine and whispering to their neighbors.
"In my view, a 30-year-old man should start thinking about having a family, but two men can't hold each other's hands in the street. We're not allowed to be a family," he says. The crowd nods.
I'm at a fake-marriage market, where Chinese lesbians and gay men meet to find a potential husband or wife. In China, the pressure to form a heterosexual marriage is so acute that 80 percent of China's gay population marries straight people, according to sexologist Li Yinhe, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. To avoid such unions, six months ago, Shanghai's biggest gay Web site, inlemon.cn, started to hold marriage markets once a month.
Thirty minutes earlier, I triple-checked the address scrawled in my notebook. The studio—located in a high-rise apartment complex—seems an unlikely spot for a fake-marriage market. "The boss of the yoga studio is very kind to us," says Fen Ye, my guide. Slipping off my shoes at the doorway, I pad up stairs lined with Buddhas in the red plastic flip-flops provided. When Fen slides open a door to reveal men and women chatting quietly, conversation falters. "They weren't expecting a foreigner," he whispers, adding, "and don't tell anyone you're a reporter. I'll just say you're my lesbian friend." He bustles me to a cushion on the floor and hands me a glass of Chinese red wine.
Precautions are necessary for an event like this. Though there are an estimated 30 million to 40 million gay people in China—there has been no official count—even simple actions such as trying to access Wikipedia's "LGBT" page often result in a "This webpage is not available" message. Chinese society has adopted a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. A 2007 survey by Li Yinhe found that 70 percent of Chinese people think homosexuality is either "a little" or "completely" wrong, and only 7.5 percent of respondents said they knew a gay person.
While past generations buried their sexuality in straight marriages, the people gathered at the yoga studio are trying a new approach. No. 8 (the men sport numbered buttons in a pleasing shade of blue, the women's are pink), a pretty 22-year-old woman with curly dyed chestnut hair, skinny jeans, and Snoopy slippers wants a fake marriage to ease parental pressure, but she doesn't want a baby. No. 15, a strikingly tall man with side-swept bangs, says: "I want to get married for my parents, but I think lying to them will make me feel terrible. So I want to have a fake marriage with a lesbian girl, but just for one or two years, and then I want a divorce to show my parents that I am not a marriage type." There's one constant: All the participants talk about pleasing their parents.
Influential Zhou Dynasty Confucian scholar Mencius said that the "most serious" way to be unfilial is to not produce an heir. It's an idea that still reverberates through China's family-centric culture. In contemporary slang, single women over the age of 27 are known as sheng nu or "leftovers."
"I could absolutely not come out to my parents. If I could tell them I was gay, I wouldn't have needed to get married," says my guide, 30-year-old Fen, as we sit in a converted Shanghainese shikumen lane house near the popular tourist spot People's Park. We're talking about his lesbian wife, whom he met on inlemon.cn.
"I had a big, traditional Chinese wedding. It lasted for three days, and there were maybe 500 people there. My parents were so happy," says Fen, who knew his wife for seven months before they married. "In your job, in your social life, and for family gatherings, you need to bring a partner. It's hard to do these things alone in China. My grandfather and grandmother … everyone was waiting for me to get married. The wedding felt like a task I needed to accomplish, something I needed to get through step-by-step, a bit like doing homework."
For many gay men, the chance to experience parenthood—and to provide a grandchild for longing parents—is a distinct advantage of these unions. At the yoga studio marriage market, almost every man says he wants a baby, Fen included. "[On the Web site] I said that I didn't want to have a sex life with my wife—absolutely none." Although he says he and his wife are not "very good friends," they have discussed having a child. "For a baby we will maybe use artificial insemination," he says.
Past generations did things differently. The Lai Lai dancehall, in a rundown corner of Shanghai's Hongkou district, is a refuge for gay but married men. Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, about 200 men crowd the dance floor in their mismatched suits, twirling together in the green light and cigarette smoke. When they're not dancing, they sit in groups around the edge, nursing flasks of tea, though beer is available for 75 cents a glass.
Zhang, who is 55 and married with children, goes every week. "You can find gay bars in every city, but a dancehall like this only in Shanghai," he says. While tinny speakers rattle out familiar patriotic songs, the dancing stays elegant and refined. Flirting is discreet, barely noticeable. "Older gay men feel comfortable in this place," Zhang tells me. "Because the dancehall starts early, they can go home to their families and keep it secret. Though sometimes the wives come to look for their husbands, and then other people have to persuade them that their husband is just dancing."
But 30-year-old Mu Mu knew that her husband was not "just dancing." Just after she became pregnant, Mu Mu's husband started openly dating men. "I knew he was gay before we got married," says the Shanghai resident over the phone to protect her anonymity. "But the word gay was really strange to me. I read that being gay is something you're born as, but other people said it's like a disease that can be healed. Because I loved him a lot, I hoped that maybe he would change." It wasn't until a year after the birth of their daughter, and after her husband brought home another man to live with them, that Mu Mu left him.
Mu Mu is one of China's estimated 16 million to 25 million "homowives"—or tongqi in pinyin (the word is an amalgamation of the Mandarin for gay and wife)—women who are married to gay men.
"The happiest time of our marriage was when I gave birth to our daughter," says Mu Mu. "That one week when I was in the hospital, he took care of me and the baby. Much of the rest of the time I felt abandoned."
For many women, speaking out about their gay husbands is more difficult than staying in loveless marriages, but in the last few years Web-based support groups have started to form. Li, 33, is a volunteer on a homowife support forum on QQ, a Chinese social networking site. Her job involves giving advice and answering questions, and she is often the only person the homowives confide in. "The women are desperate," she explains over iced tea on a busy shopping street in central Shanghai. "At first they feel shock, and they don't know what to do, because people don't know much about gay people. They think their husband is a disturbed person."
While it's relatively easy to get divorced in China, Li says, many women stick with the marriages for complicated reasons. "Some stay because they still love their husband. He's a good person, and a good father, and they want their children to have a father," she says. Another reason is social stigma. "Most of the women can't go to their friends, they don't think they will be able to accept it or understand. Which is true. I think in China people make a moral judgment about it. [The women] think people will think, 'Wow, your husband would prefer to be with a man than with you—what a loser.' "
But there are tentative signs of change. Pink Space, a Beijing-based sexuality research center, started a support group for homowives earlier this year—the first of its kind in China. Zhang Beichan, a director at the China Sexology Association, thinks the homowife "problem" is shrinking. "In 2005, a TV station put out a program about gay issues, and I introduced a homowife who talked about her problems. This was one of the first times this issue was introduced to the public. It had a very big impact—some gay men still share that program with their families when they are pressured into getting married. Also, there are more and more gay men coming out of the closet, and more awareness of gay issues."
Back at the fake-marriage market, Fen Yu and his friends see themselves as the "transitional" generation. While they can't come out to their parents, they can, at least, be open about their sexuality among friends, go to gay bars, and date. "For the generation after ours, it might be easier," he says, "Our parents have no idea what homosexuality is. It's very difficult, because it's just opening up."
If Fen becomes a father, his will be a different approach: "I might not be able to tell my parents," he says, "but when my child grows up, I will tell them the real story about why it happened and who I am."
__________________________________________________________________
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
I read an article by Nicola Davison a few weeks back on what it was like to be gay in China, and I thought the article was revealing and interesting and well worth sharing. Please be sure that while China has it's own problems with gay people, so does much of the rest of Asia, notably Japan and Muslim Indonesia.
For what my opinion is worth, I really enjoyed this piece by Nicola. I like how she followed the stories of a few people and showed the lengths that people will go to in order to hide who they really are. A copy of the article is below, as is the original link.
__________________________________________________________________
Copyright: SLATE
Original Store: LINK
Title: Gay Marriage With Chinese Characteristics. A visit to a Shanghai fake-marriage market, where lesbians and gay men meet to find a husband or wife.
Written By: Nicola Davison
SHANGHAI, China—"I'm here to find a lesbian, to be with me and to build a home," No. 11 says to the crowd clustered on floor cushions at a sunlit yoga studio in Shanghai. No. 11 is a muscular man in a flannel shirt and cargo pants, and he easily commands the attention of the crowd of 40 or so young men and women who are gingerly sipping glasses of wine and whispering to their neighbors.
"In my view, a 30-year-old man should start thinking about having a family, but two men can't hold each other's hands in the street. We're not allowed to be a family," he says. The crowd nods.
I'm at a fake-marriage market, where Chinese lesbians and gay men meet to find a potential husband or wife. In China, the pressure to form a heterosexual marriage is so acute that 80 percent of China's gay population marries straight people, according to sexologist Li Yinhe, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. To avoid such unions, six months ago, Shanghai's biggest gay Web site, inlemon.cn, started to hold marriage markets once a month.
Thirty minutes earlier, I triple-checked the address scrawled in my notebook. The studio—located in a high-rise apartment complex—seems an unlikely spot for a fake-marriage market. "The boss of the yoga studio is very kind to us," says Fen Ye, my guide. Slipping off my shoes at the doorway, I pad up stairs lined with Buddhas in the red plastic flip-flops provided. When Fen slides open a door to reveal men and women chatting quietly, conversation falters. "They weren't expecting a foreigner," he whispers, adding, "and don't tell anyone you're a reporter. I'll just say you're my lesbian friend." He bustles me to a cushion on the floor and hands me a glass of Chinese red wine.
Precautions are necessary for an event like this. Though there are an estimated 30 million to 40 million gay people in China—there has been no official count—even simple actions such as trying to access Wikipedia's "LGBT" page often result in a "This webpage is not available" message. Chinese society has adopted a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. A 2007 survey by Li Yinhe found that 70 percent of Chinese people think homosexuality is either "a little" or "completely" wrong, and only 7.5 percent of respondents said they knew a gay person.
While past generations buried their sexuality in straight marriages, the people gathered at the yoga studio are trying a new approach. No. 8 (the men sport numbered buttons in a pleasing shade of blue, the women's are pink), a pretty 22-year-old woman with curly dyed chestnut hair, skinny jeans, and Snoopy slippers wants a fake marriage to ease parental pressure, but she doesn't want a baby. No. 15, a strikingly tall man with side-swept bangs, says: "I want to get married for my parents, but I think lying to them will make me feel terrible. So I want to have a fake marriage with a lesbian girl, but just for one or two years, and then I want a divorce to show my parents that I am not a marriage type." There's one constant: All the participants talk about pleasing their parents.
Influential Zhou Dynasty Confucian scholar Mencius said that the "most serious" way to be unfilial is to not produce an heir. It's an idea that still reverberates through China's family-centric culture. In contemporary slang, single women over the age of 27 are known as sheng nu or "leftovers."
"I could absolutely not come out to my parents. If I could tell them I was gay, I wouldn't have needed to get married," says my guide, 30-year-old Fen, as we sit in a converted Shanghainese shikumen lane house near the popular tourist spot People's Park. We're talking about his lesbian wife, whom he met on inlemon.cn.
"I had a big, traditional Chinese wedding. It lasted for three days, and there were maybe 500 people there. My parents were so happy," says Fen, who knew his wife for seven months before they married. "In your job, in your social life, and for family gatherings, you need to bring a partner. It's hard to do these things alone in China. My grandfather and grandmother … everyone was waiting for me to get married. The wedding felt like a task I needed to accomplish, something I needed to get through step-by-step, a bit like doing homework."
For many gay men, the chance to experience parenthood—and to provide a grandchild for longing parents—is a distinct advantage of these unions. At the yoga studio marriage market, almost every man says he wants a baby, Fen included. "[On the Web site] I said that I didn't want to have a sex life with my wife—absolutely none." Although he says he and his wife are not "very good friends," they have discussed having a child. "For a baby we will maybe use artificial insemination," he says.
Past generations did things differently. The Lai Lai dancehall, in a rundown corner of Shanghai's Hongkou district, is a refuge for gay but married men. Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, about 200 men crowd the dance floor in their mismatched suits, twirling together in the green light and cigarette smoke. When they're not dancing, they sit in groups around the edge, nursing flasks of tea, though beer is available for 75 cents a glass.
Zhang, who is 55 and married with children, goes every week. "You can find gay bars in every city, but a dancehall like this only in Shanghai," he says. While tinny speakers rattle out familiar patriotic songs, the dancing stays elegant and refined. Flirting is discreet, barely noticeable. "Older gay men feel comfortable in this place," Zhang tells me. "Because the dancehall starts early, they can go home to their families and keep it secret. Though sometimes the wives come to look for their husbands, and then other people have to persuade them that their husband is just dancing."
But 30-year-old Mu Mu knew that her husband was not "just dancing." Just after she became pregnant, Mu Mu's husband started openly dating men. "I knew he was gay before we got married," says the Shanghai resident over the phone to protect her anonymity. "But the word gay was really strange to me. I read that being gay is something you're born as, but other people said it's like a disease that can be healed. Because I loved him a lot, I hoped that maybe he would change." It wasn't until a year after the birth of their daughter, and after her husband brought home another man to live with them, that Mu Mu left him.
Mu Mu is one of China's estimated 16 million to 25 million "homowives"—or tongqi in pinyin (the word is an amalgamation of the Mandarin for gay and wife)—women who are married to gay men.
"The happiest time of our marriage was when I gave birth to our daughter," says Mu Mu. "That one week when I was in the hospital, he took care of me and the baby. Much of the rest of the time I felt abandoned."
For many women, speaking out about their gay husbands is more difficult than staying in loveless marriages, but in the last few years Web-based support groups have started to form. Li, 33, is a volunteer on a homowife support forum on QQ, a Chinese social networking site. Her job involves giving advice and answering questions, and she is often the only person the homowives confide in. "The women are desperate," she explains over iced tea on a busy shopping street in central Shanghai. "At first they feel shock, and they don't know what to do, because people don't know much about gay people. They think their husband is a disturbed person."
While it's relatively easy to get divorced in China, Li says, many women stick with the marriages for complicated reasons. "Some stay because they still love their husband. He's a good person, and a good father, and they want their children to have a father," she says. Another reason is social stigma. "Most of the women can't go to their friends, they don't think they will be able to accept it or understand. Which is true. I think in China people make a moral judgment about it. [The women] think people will think, 'Wow, your husband would prefer to be with a man than with you—what a loser.' "
But there are tentative signs of change. Pink Space, a Beijing-based sexuality research center, started a support group for homowives earlier this year—the first of its kind in China. Zhang Beichan, a director at the China Sexology Association, thinks the homowife "problem" is shrinking. "In 2005, a TV station put out a program about gay issues, and I introduced a homowife who talked about her problems. This was one of the first times this issue was introduced to the public. It had a very big impact—some gay men still share that program with their families when they are pressured into getting married. Also, there are more and more gay men coming out of the closet, and more awareness of gay issues."
Back at the fake-marriage market, Fen Yu and his friends see themselves as the "transitional" generation. While they can't come out to their parents, they can, at least, be open about their sexuality among friends, go to gay bars, and date. "For the generation after ours, it might be easier," he says, "Our parents have no idea what homosexuality is. It's very difficult, because it's just opening up."
If Fen becomes a father, his will be a different approach: "I might not be able to tell my parents," he says, "but when my child grows up, I will tell them the real story about why it happened and who I am."
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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Friday, March 11, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: Huffington Post Purchase
Hello,
I know most of the media world has moved on, but I think it's worth while to revisit what this purchase means and what it might (or might not) mean for content producers like myself. Uh, I cringe when I use that term to describe my art work, but alas my imagery is the content that fills pages of magazines and using "Account-Speak" I am a content producer and nothing more. Sad but true, but let's stay on track and get back tot he point of this blog - The Internet Publishing Model.
Back a few weeks ago the world all learned, as I did, that online media is worth something. Sure, the big story here is that AOL is trying to remake itself, but that issue is secondary for me. The real headline grabber is that an online newspaper that started off with a USD 1 million investment and operated much like a blog was just purchased for USD 315 million. Wow, that's a lot of Chinese RMB.
Is this a game changer for online media? Will online portals start paying for writers and photographers to create content? Could this be the beginning of a turn around for content producers like myself? Sadly, I don't think so. The Huffington Post seems to operate in a real niche market and tends to be very writer driven, which is odd for an online publication. The rumors I've heard is that they pay a few "big name" columnists a lot of money, and the rest of the content they pull in at very low cost from wire services and bloggers.
As a person who does not frequently visit the Huffington Post portal I was pretty surprised by its coverage: being a unique mix of one half politics, one half economics and one half celebrity. On top of that it seems to do well covering local markets, like Chicago and Denver, no doubt pulling audiences away from local newspapers and magazines in those areas.
I think a big congratulations goes out to the Huffington Post owners and management team for creating value out of online content. Will this deal shake the industry? Maybe not right away, but the next time a online publications contacts you asking for free imagery for writing you can call their bluff and let them you know exactly what online media is worth. Let's pray it's a game changer.
Original Story LINK
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Copyright: The New York Times
AOL’s Bet on Another Makeover
By VERNE G. KOPYTOFF
SAN FRANCISCO — AOL is trying to remake itself, yet again.
The new strategy in many ways resembles the old strategy: make acquisitions to attract traffic and reverse a continuing decline in advertising and revenue from its dial-up Internet service. In the latest iteration of its do-over, it is paying $315 million to buy the liberal news commentary site The Huffington Post, not long after paying $25 million to buy TechCrunch, the Silicon Valley technology news blog.
But skepticism runs deep that this effort will be any more successful than the many other makeovers it has tried in the last decade.
“My gut says that the clock has run out for AOL, but I’m happy to see someone make a bold bet,” said Salim Ismail, a former Yahoo executive. “Doing nothing is worse.”
AOL has its doubters among investors. Its shares fell 75 cents, or 3.42 percent, to close at $21.19 on Monday.
Even some AOL insiders poked fun at The Huffington Post deal. Michael Arrington, the voluble founder of TechCrunch, who frequently ridicules AOL’s bureaucracy even though he now works for the company, did so again on Monday. “I want to know right now,” he wrote in a post on Twitter to Arianna Huffington, the site’s founder, on Monday morning, “whether or not you had to sit thru the four-hour orientation meeting.” Several hours earlier, he wrote that he liked her, “despite her insane politics.”
AOL is making a big bet on Ms. Huffington. She has been given the task by AOL’s chief executive, Timothy M. Armstrong, of stitching together the company’s disparate content sites into a cohesive news factory for the digital age. But turning that vision into reality will be a challenge, given that AOL is beset by a decade-long decline in its core legacy business of dial-up Internet service as well as declining revenue from online advertising.
Indeed, despite traffic of 112 million visitors a month, AOL’s online advertising fell 26 percent last year, to $1.28 billion, while advertising for the rest of the industry rose 17 percent, according to eMarketer. Revenue from its dial-up subscribers also declined 26 percent, to $1.02 billion.
Finding a way to replace revenue from AOL’s declining dial-up business is an imperative for Mr. Armstrong, who took over as chief executive in 2009.
The company has gone through multiple overhauls over the years, but none of them have worked. It bought a collection of blogs, including Engadget and Joystiq, in 2005. It bought an advertising network, Tacoda, for $275 million in 2007. It lurched yet another direction when it bought Bebo, a social networking site in 2008, but sold that last year for a fraction of the $850 million it paid. It also made its subscription e-mail service free, like Google’s or Yahoo’s, yet it lost users.
Mr. Armstrong is now focusing his turnaround effort on editorial content, one of AOL’s traditional strengths.
Mr. Armstrong’s vision resembles that of another chief executive struggling to resurrect a legacy Internet company, Carol A. Bartz of Yahoo.
Internet users would come get a variety of news from one source. In AOL’s case it would be local news from Patch, technology start-up news at TechCrunch and cultural and political news from The Huffington Post. AOL also would provide information from its Mapquest and Moviefone services.
But AOL has yet to show signs of progress with this model, though AOL executives have said that its display advertising business will pick up in the second half of 2011.
“This huge transition that Tim Armstrong is trying to pull off hasn’t worked yet,” said Ken Doctor, a news industry analyst with Outsell and author of the book “Newsonomics.” Mr. Doctor said, “They have all these assets that aren’t recognizable as a single company.”
AOL finds itself in the rare position of selling less online advertising, while all around it major media companies are selling more. AOL’s problem is that it is still dependent on subscribers, those people who pay a minimum of $10 a month for dial-up service, to support its advertising business. AOL’s paying subscribers peaked at 26.7 million subscribers in 2003, but has now dropped to 3.85 million. That’s 86 percent fewer people looking at ads on AOL.
Mr. Armstrong is counting on The Huffington Post to lift online advertising by lifting traffic and page views. Eventually, AOL hopes to rebuild on this new foundation.
How does Ms. Huffington change that? Huffington Post is a master of finding stories across the Web, stripping them to their essence and placing well-created headlines on them that rise to the top of search engine results, guaranteeing a strong audience. For instance, on Sunday it posted an article that was pure search engine bait, “What Time Does the Super Bowl Start?”
Mr. Armstrong said that he hoped to accelerate The Huffington Post’s growth by tying it in with AOL’s other properties, and in turn lift traffic to those other properties. Expanding The Huffington Post internationally and creating a video version of The Huffington Post are among the planned projects.
Mr. Armstrong said that this time AOL’s remodeling would be different. Unlike the previous failed strategies by his predecessors at AOL, he said in an interview Monday, “We’re betting on something that’s a known quantity and something that’s going to happen.”
Buying The Huffington Post is “doubling down” on that strategy, he said.
He said, for instance, that The Huffington Post created a second front door for users into AOL’s content and gave AOL the ability to cut content in different ways and target advertising.
“Huffington Post is a scaled version of what we’ve been doing.”
AOL can help to improve The Huffington Post, which he says, commands low rates from advertisers. Paring with AOL will lift The Huffington Post’s traffic. AOL increased TechCrunch’s traffic by 30 percent since its acquisition, he said.
Mr. Armstrong acknowledged the skepticism about AOL given its past failed turnaround efforts. But he said that growth in online advertising would ultimately offset the loss in dial-up subscribers sometime in 2013.
“We are essentially two years away from a growth business on the Internet.”
AOL will pay for The Huffington Post out of nearly $802 million in cash on hand at the end of 2010. The remainder provides a cushion for expansion.
“They need to buy their way out of the access business, and this is a pretty big step in that direction,” said Youssef H. Squali, an analyst with Jefferies & Company.
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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Friday, March 04, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: New Work: The Butter Lamp Festival
Hello,
I've recently completed some work that I thought be of interest to my blog followers.
I traveled to the Ganden Monastery, located in Central Tibet, during winter to photograph the Butter Lamp festival. The reason for visiting was that years ago, on a previous assignment, a local once told me that she had always wished to celebrate the Butter Lamp festival at the Ganden Monastery because of the special Thanka (large carpet with painted Buddha) that is unveiled during that celebration. I marked it down on a my list as something that I was keen to photograph. And so I was finally able to make the trip, and it was an amazing visual experience at over 16,000 feet; I spent most of the next two days in bed with altitude sickness after shooting the festival. Details are below.
What is the Butter Lamp Festival?
The Tibet Butter Lamp Festival is celebrated on the final day of the Great Prayer Festival The event was also established way back in 1409 by Tsong Khapa to celebrate the victory of Sakyamuni against heretics in a religious debate. At that time he commissioned monks to make flowers and trees with colored butter. This tradition has been maintained to this day. In the past, various giant butter and butter sculptures, in forms of auspicious symbols and figures, were displayed on Barkhor Street in Lhasa. But today things are toned down an the festival is centered around the display of thousands of small hand held butter lamps.
What is the Ganden Monastery?
The Ganden Monastery was the original monastery in the Geluk order, founded by Je Tsongkhapa himself in 1409, and traditionally considered to be the seat of Geluk administrative and political power. Being the farthest from Lhasa of the three university monasteries, Ganden traditionally had a smaller population with some 6,000 monks in the early 20th century. Ganden Monastery consisted of two principal original colleges, Jangtse and Shartse, meaning North Peak and East Peak respectively. Ganden Monastery contained more than two dozen major chapels with large Buddha statues. The largest chapel was capable of seating 3,500 monks.
Below is an edit of the photography completed at the Ganden Monastery, part of the Yellow Hat Sect of Tibetan Buddhism.
LINK: http://archive.ryanpyle.com/gallery/Tibet-Butter-Lamp-Festival/G0000l.8PTU5UslU
My Favorite Images: LINK#1 & LINK #2
For anyone interested, the work was shot on two Lecia M6's. One had a 50mm f/1.4 and the other had a 28mm f/2.0. The work was shot on Kodak Color 100 VS film.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Friday, February 25, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: Brighton Gallery Exhibition
Hello.
This is just a remind that I'll be speaking next week at the AM Gallery in Brighton to launch the Intimate China show which begins on Tuesday March 1st and runs for the month of March. A small selection of my work from Chinese Turkestan will be on display.
My talk will take place on Tuesday March 1st at 8pm. If anyone is in the neighborhood, swing by.
The gallery address is:
1 Borough Street, Brighton BN1 3BG, United Kingdom
+44.1273.771228
www.amgallery.co.uk
AM Gallery LINK
The official flier is below.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
AM Gallery presents
Intimate China
A group exhibition of China-based photographers
We are pleased to invite you to a private view & Artist’s talk with Ryan Pyle in accordance with the ArtsFORUM
Tuesday 1 March 2011 7pm-9pm
AM Gallery, 1 Borough Street, Brighton
PLEASE RSVP amgalleryuk@gmail.com by 25 Feb.
The exhibition aims to enhance the interaction between the European public and Chinese art scene through the photographic medium - with more than 70 stunning images in two different shows, viewers will be able to become familiar with the fascinating contemporary Chinese art scene. The fine art photographers display a great combination of people and landscape, while in documentary there is no lack of details about everyday life in China.
Photographers
Show 1: Seppe Van Grieken, Jonathan Browning, Ryan Pyle, Jingyi Yang, Gemma Thorpe, Stefen Chow
Show 2: Boris Austin, Jasper James, David Hartung, Camille Levert, Peikwen Cheng, Simon Dean
Exhibition
Show 1: Open Tuesday 1 – Thursday 10 March 2011
Show 2: Open Friday 11 – Sunday 20 March 2011
Opening Hours
Weekdays 11am-4pm. Sat/Sun 11am-5pm. Monday closed. FREE ENTRY
How to get here
By Bus: 1, 1A, 2, 2A, 5, 5A, 5B, 6, 20, 25, 46, 49, 49A, 71, 81, 81B, N25 (Norfolk Square)
Use Google map or Multi map to find routes to and from the gallery.
About Ryan Pyle
Photography: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
Film: www.mkride.com
More information can be found at www.amgallery.co.uk & theartsforum.blogspot.com/
Wine will be served free.
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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Friday, February 18, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: London Visit
Hello.
This is just a brief note to let anyone out there, followers and non-followers alike, that I'll be visiting London for about 12 days starting next week. I have some engagements while in London and I've listed them below. In case you are interested, the venue's are open to the public and your more than welcome to stop by, listen in and say hello. Details below:
Date: Tuesday February 22nd 2011
Cambridge University: East Asian Society - Time: 5pm to 8pm
Venue: Robinson College
Speaker: Ryan Pyle
Topic: A Lens on China: Sources of Political Change in China
Full Cambridge LINK
Date: Wednesday February 23rd 2011
University of London: SOAS - Time: 3pm to 5pm
Venue: Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings. Room: L67
Speaker: Ryan Pyle and Dianne Aigaki
Topic: Images of Tibet: Two presentations by photographers of contemporary Tibet
Full SOAS Lecture LINK
Date: Thursday February 24th 2011
London School of Economics: Arts Public Lecture - Time: 1-2pm
Venue: Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Ryan Pyle
Topic: Documenting China.
Full LSE Lecture LINK.
Date: Monday February 28th 2011
London: BBC Interview - Time: 1pm to 2:30pm
Venue: BBC Studios - London, UK
Interviewee: Ryan Pyle
Interviewer: Mishal Husain
Television Show: Impact Asia with Mishal Husain
Full BBC Interview LINK
Date: Tuesday March 1st 2011
Brighton: AM Gallery: "Intimate China" - Time: 8pm
Venue: AM Gallery, Brighton, UK
Speaker: Ryan Pyle
Topic: Chinese Turkestan
Full AM Gallery Lecture LINK
Back to China and ready for assignments on March 4th.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Friday, February 11, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: Secrets of the Silk Road
Hello.
This was a news story that caught my eye last week, and I didn't have a chance to comment on it until now. So bear with me.
The Chinese government has a problem with history, especially their own; and especially in contested border regions. Which is why it should surprise no one that the Chinese government recently withheld two mummies and around 100 artifacts from an Exhibition in Philadelphia known as the "Secrets of the Silk Road". The folks in Philadelphia haven't come out and said exactly why the Chinese authorities have withheld important artifacts from the show, but this is simply for fear of repercussions.
One can gather, by the very short article in Reuters, which I've included below, that the Chinese got bent out of shape by something that was included or excluded in the exhibition. You see, the Chinese are bitter about their Silk Road past. Chinese history dictates that the Emperor sitting in Eastern China (be it Xi'an, Beijing or Nanjing) had control over the western edges of China; which in fact they never did. The Chinese are also livid about the "Tomb Raiders", mainly European explorers and treasure hunters, that beat the Chinese to the regions most impressive artifacts in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
As if you needed to add more bitterness to the situation, the Chinese government also continues to insist that mummies of bodies found in Xinjiang in Northwest China are actually Han Chinese; but nothing could be further from the truth. The mummies are mainly Uygur, Central Asia and have more Caucasian features then Han Chinese. The Chinese governments official stand on Silk Road history doesn't exactly match up and this often causes disagreements and in this case, in my opinion, the withholding of wonderful artifacts from the American public.
This is just another example of how skittish the Chinese propaganda machine is. As if the present isn't difficult enough to navigate, now we have to start arguing about the past. Luckily China has plenty of government officials without too much on their agenda to take up the fight.
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Original Story LINK
Copyright: Reuters
Title: U.S. Silk Road show to open without Chinese artifacts
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters Life!) - A exhibition about the ancient Silk Road trade route connecting Europe and Asia will open without artifacts and mummies from China that would have been the centerpiece of the show, according to museum officials.
The University of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology said Chinese officials had withdrawn about 100 artifacts and two mummies from the "Secrets of the Silk Road" exhibition, which opens on Saturday and will run until June 5.
The exhibit will include text, images, sound, maps, a recreated excavation site and photographs of the withdrawn items.
The show "has been modified ... at the request of Chinese officials," the museum said in a statement.
Pam Kosty, a spokeswoman for the museum, said the withdrawn items had been part of the show at its earlier stops in California and Texas, but would not be available in Philadelphia.
She declined to say why the Chinese officials had made the decision.
The Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
________________________________________________________________
This was a news story that caught my eye last week, and I didn't have a chance to comment on it until now. So bear with me.
The Chinese government has a problem with history, especially their own; and especially in contested border regions. Which is why it should surprise no one that the Chinese government recently withheld two mummies and around 100 artifacts from an Exhibition in Philadelphia known as the "Secrets of the Silk Road". The folks in Philadelphia haven't come out and said exactly why the Chinese authorities have withheld important artifacts from the show, but this is simply for fear of repercussions.
One can gather, by the very short article in Reuters, which I've included below, that the Chinese got bent out of shape by something that was included or excluded in the exhibition. You see, the Chinese are bitter about their Silk Road past. Chinese history dictates that the Emperor sitting in Eastern China (be it Xi'an, Beijing or Nanjing) had control over the western edges of China; which in fact they never did. The Chinese are also livid about the "Tomb Raiders", mainly European explorers and treasure hunters, that beat the Chinese to the regions most impressive artifacts in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
As if you needed to add more bitterness to the situation, the Chinese government also continues to insist that mummies of bodies found in Xinjiang in Northwest China are actually Han Chinese; but nothing could be further from the truth. The mummies are mainly Uygur, Central Asia and have more Caucasian features then Han Chinese. The Chinese governments official stand on Silk Road history doesn't exactly match up and this often causes disagreements and in this case, in my opinion, the withholding of wonderful artifacts from the American public.
This is just another example of how skittish the Chinese propaganda machine is. As if the present isn't difficult enough to navigate, now we have to start arguing about the past. Luckily China has plenty of government officials without too much on their agenda to take up the fight.
________________________________________________________________
Original Story LINK
Copyright: Reuters
Title: U.S. Silk Road show to open without Chinese artifacts
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters Life!) - A exhibition about the ancient Silk Road trade route connecting Europe and Asia will open without artifacts and mummies from China that would have been the centerpiece of the show, according to museum officials.
The University of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology said Chinese officials had withdrawn about 100 artifacts and two mummies from the "Secrets of the Silk Road" exhibition, which opens on Saturday and will run until June 5.
The exhibit will include text, images, sound, maps, a recreated excavation site and photographs of the withdrawn items.
The show "has been modified ... at the request of Chinese officials," the museum said in a statement.
Pam Kosty, a spokeswoman for the museum, said the withdrawn items had been part of the show at its earlier stops in California and Texas, but would not be available in Philadelphia.
She declined to say why the Chinese officials had made the decision.
The Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
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Friday, January 28, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: China is Funding Terrorism
Hello.
On December 20th 2010, the Shangdi Guanqun Investment Company signed a letter of intent to invest up to USD 2 Billion in to an port and industrial zone in the Northeast of North Korea. A similar investment was tried in the 1990s but didn't amount to much, but apparently this time around the deal was cemented during a visit by Wen Jiabao in 2009. Upwards and onwards.
So what does this mean? Well, apparently we live in a world where you (a pudgy dictator) can shell a democratic country, kill 40+ civilians and then be rewarded with a USD 2 Billion in investments from an emerging superpower, who is also the world's second largest economy. In other words, it means we live in a pretty sick time; an era of distaste and disbelief.
Make no bones about it, this money being invested will go nowhere. The port and industrial center will not develop and the money will be siphoned off or disappear. It will not help ordinary people in North Korea and will only create jobs that support either the military or the government directly. The Shangdi Guanqun Investment Company is a state-run company that specializes in natural resources and infrastructure development. Ownership, or should I say beneficiaries, of the company is opaque at best.
To me, a China watcher and long time resident of Shanghai, I would have to say that this deal simply amounts to state sponsored terrorism. Strong words, but what more can we believe. Basically a Chinese Government controlled entity is using cheap loans from a Government controlled bank to invest USD 2 Billion in a rouge state that holds most of Asia hostage with nuclear tipped missiles. If something sounds amiss, it's because it is. None of this adds up and it shows the true weaknesses of China: that leadership is fractured and it leaves one asking who is really in charge. Obvious Hu Jintao, while dining with President Obama, wouldn't have green-lit this investment to be announced during his state visit to the USA. Those who did make the deal public clearly wanted to damage Hu Jintao's reputation.
There are a lot of factions in China, all bumping in to each other in an attempt to carve out their own power centers. The political leadership is just one of those factions; the military is another. Former leaders, and their children, who run massive conglomerates and/or investment companies and LBO firms are another. As China becomes more powerful and more foreign investment enters the country having all these powers pushing for power, without a strict rule of law to govern them, will create chaos.
In the US the State governments push the Federal government, the Congress pushes the White House, the Supreme Courts keeps everyone in check. There are power centers and power does shift but there is a Rule of Law that keeps it all in check; and there is a free press that points out when one faction becomes too powerful. In China none of that exists. Some might say that is an advantage to getting things done quickly. That's true, and positive, when it comes to building infrastructure and things like low-income housing; but its clearly negative when it comes to propping up the North Korean regime with a USD 2 Billion investment.
China needs to decide which team it wants to play for: The one that sponsors terrorism or the one that doesn't. An article by the WSJ is below.
___________________________________________________________________
The Wall Street Journal
Date: January 19 2011
Copyright: The Wall Street Journal
Original Link: Article
By: JAY SOLOMON And JEREMY PAGE
A Chinese firm has signed a letter of intent to invest $2 billion in a North Korean industrial zone, representing one of the largest potential investments in Kim Jong Il's authoritarian state and a challenge to U.S. policy in the region.
The agreement was signed with little fanfare in Pyongyang on Dec. 20—a day otherwise marked by pitched tension on the Korean peninsula following the North's shelling of a South Korean island—according to documents viewed by the Wall Street Journal. Confirmation of the deal comes as Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Washington this week in a bid to forge closer security and economic ties with the U.S.
U.S. officials said the administration is aware of the possible Chinese investment, but noted that previous projects haven't gone anywhere. "No investment project will enable North Korea to meet the needs of its people as long as its government continues its destabilizing behavior," said a senior administration official.
The letter of intent involves China's Shangdi Guanqun Investment Co. and North Korea's Investment and Development Group. An assistant to the managing director of Shangdi Guanqun, who identified himself only by his surname, Han, said his company's planned investment is focused on the Rason special economic zone, situated near North Korea's border with Russia.
The zone was called Rajin-Sonbong when it was established in 1991, but failed to attract sufficient investment. It was revived, and re-named Rason, following a visit there in 2009 by Mr. Kim.
Mr. Han said the plan is to develop infrastructure, including docks, a power plant and roads over the next two to three years, followed by various industrial projects, including an oil refinery, over the next five to 10 years. He said the company was waiting for a response from the North Korean government before applying for approval from China's Ministry of Commerce.
"It's all pending at this stage, and it's really up to the Korean side to make the decision," Mr. Han said. He added that the $2 billion figure was what the North Korean side had hoped for, not necessarily what his company could deliver.
Associated Press
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il endorsing a bottle
The company's Web site says the company was "under the administration" of a state-owned enterprise, Shangdi Purchase-Estate Corporation. Mr. Han, however, said his company was "100 percent private."
For the Obama administration, securing China's cooperation in restraining North Korea's military and nuclear-proliferation activities is a cornerstone of a warmer bilateral relationship. But the potential investment is a reminder of possible limits of Chinese cooperation.
The U.S. wants to step up sanctions to force Kim Jong Il to give up his nuclear-weapons arsenal and military activities. China, meanwhile, is increasingly promoting business projects and direct investment to influence the North, say Chinese and American analysts, arguing financial pressure hasn't worked.
China is North Korea's biggest trading partner and aid donor, but the scale of this deal raises concerns in Seoul that Beijing is running its own version of the "Sunshine" policy under which the South boosted investment in the North from 1998 to 2008.
This policy disconnect is expected to be one of the issues Chinese and U.S. officials discuss this week. "These types of deals pursued by China generally present a real challenge to the sanctions" being effective, said Victor Cha, a North Korea expert who helped oversee Asia policy in George W. Bush's National Security Council. "The net effect is that it does make it more difficult for these sanctions to have the desired effect."
Such deals have emerged in the past and have come to nothing, analysts said, and it is possible this one, too, could peter out. A number of similar North Korean economic zones have failed to live up to their billing because of poor infrastructure and corruption, and a lack of economic reform. News of the deal was first reported in the Korean-language press, including the Voice of America's Korean service.
It is unclear how long the agreement has been in the works. But its Dec. 20 signing came on the day South Korea conducted a closely watched artillery test from Yeonpyeong Island near North Korea.
The test marked a high point in tensions after North Korea's surprise late November shelling of Yeonpyeong, which killed four South Koreans. Pyongyang had threatened a swift military response should Seoul carry out an announced artillery test on Dec. 20. But the day's drill came and went amid high security in the South, with the North saying in a statement it "did not feel any need to retaliate."
Top administration officials have recently both praised and chided the Chinese over the North. On a trip to China last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates commended the Chinese for their "constructive" role in reducing tensions on the peninsula after Pyongyang's recent shelling of a South Korean island. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a Friday speech pressed China to be more aggressive in helping tamp down the North's nuclear program.
The proposed investment is among the strongest evidence yet of China's strategy of using direct investment rather political pressure to push for change in North Korea. Chinese experts say that after North Korea's first nuclear test in 2006, China tried to make improved bilateral relations dependent on Pyongyang dismantling its nuclear program. But after a second test in 2009, China changed tack.
Beijing now believes, according to Chinese experts, that the North Korean regime won't respond to political pressure and could collapse completely if China cuts off aid and investment, triggering a flood of refugees into northeastern China, and bringing U.S. troops right up to the Chinese border.
The investment strategy was cemented when China's Premier Wen Jiabao visited North Korea in October 2009 and signed a slew of economic and trade agreements. One of those agreements was for China to fund construction of a $250 million bridge across the Yalu River that separates the two countries.
Construction of the bridge, which would link China with another North Korean special economic zone, had been slated to start in August. Local officials said in November it appeared to have been put on hold indefinitely. Now they say a ground-breaking ceremony was held Dec. 31.
U.S. officials are particularly concerned about how China's financial links to North Korea may be facilitating Pyongyang's weapons programs. In November, Pyongyang showed a visiting American scientist 2,000 centrifuges stationed at a cover site, drastically raising fears about the North's ability to expand its nuclear-weapons arsenal.
"China's increased economic support undercuts the rest of the region's efforts to convince Pyongyang that there will be consequences for further belligerence, nuclear weapons development or transfer of nuclear capabilities," said Michael Green, who also served as a senior official on Asia during the Bush administration.
___________________________________________________________________
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
On December 20th 2010, the Shangdi Guanqun Investment Company signed a letter of intent to invest up to USD 2 Billion in to an port and industrial zone in the Northeast of North Korea. A similar investment was tried in the 1990s but didn't amount to much, but apparently this time around the deal was cemented during a visit by Wen Jiabao in 2009. Upwards and onwards.
So what does this mean? Well, apparently we live in a world where you (a pudgy dictator) can shell a democratic country, kill 40+ civilians and then be rewarded with a USD 2 Billion in investments from an emerging superpower, who is also the world's second largest economy. In other words, it means we live in a pretty sick time; an era of distaste and disbelief.
Make no bones about it, this money being invested will go nowhere. The port and industrial center will not develop and the money will be siphoned off or disappear. It will not help ordinary people in North Korea and will only create jobs that support either the military or the government directly. The Shangdi Guanqun Investment Company is a state-run company that specializes in natural resources and infrastructure development. Ownership, or should I say beneficiaries, of the company is opaque at best.
To me, a China watcher and long time resident of Shanghai, I would have to say that this deal simply amounts to state sponsored terrorism. Strong words, but what more can we believe. Basically a Chinese Government controlled entity is using cheap loans from a Government controlled bank to invest USD 2 Billion in a rouge state that holds most of Asia hostage with nuclear tipped missiles. If something sounds amiss, it's because it is. None of this adds up and it shows the true weaknesses of China: that leadership is fractured and it leaves one asking who is really in charge. Obvious Hu Jintao, while dining with President Obama, wouldn't have green-lit this investment to be announced during his state visit to the USA. Those who did make the deal public clearly wanted to damage Hu Jintao's reputation.
There are a lot of factions in China, all bumping in to each other in an attempt to carve out their own power centers. The political leadership is just one of those factions; the military is another. Former leaders, and their children, who run massive conglomerates and/or investment companies and LBO firms are another. As China becomes more powerful and more foreign investment enters the country having all these powers pushing for power, without a strict rule of law to govern them, will create chaos.
In the US the State governments push the Federal government, the Congress pushes the White House, the Supreme Courts keeps everyone in check. There are power centers and power does shift but there is a Rule of Law that keeps it all in check; and there is a free press that points out when one faction becomes too powerful. In China none of that exists. Some might say that is an advantage to getting things done quickly. That's true, and positive, when it comes to building infrastructure and things like low-income housing; but its clearly negative when it comes to propping up the North Korean regime with a USD 2 Billion investment.
China needs to decide which team it wants to play for: The one that sponsors terrorism or the one that doesn't. An article by the WSJ is below.
___________________________________________________________________
The Wall Street Journal
Date: January 19 2011
Copyright: The Wall Street Journal
Original Link: Article
By: JAY SOLOMON And JEREMY PAGE
A Chinese firm has signed a letter of intent to invest $2 billion in a North Korean industrial zone, representing one of the largest potential investments in Kim Jong Il's authoritarian state and a challenge to U.S. policy in the region.
The agreement was signed with little fanfare in Pyongyang on Dec. 20—a day otherwise marked by pitched tension on the Korean peninsula following the North's shelling of a South Korean island—according to documents viewed by the Wall Street Journal. Confirmation of the deal comes as Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Washington this week in a bid to forge closer security and economic ties with the U.S.
U.S. officials said the administration is aware of the possible Chinese investment, but noted that previous projects haven't gone anywhere. "No investment project will enable North Korea to meet the needs of its people as long as its government continues its destabilizing behavior," said a senior administration official.
The letter of intent involves China's Shangdi Guanqun Investment Co. and North Korea's Investment and Development Group. An assistant to the managing director of Shangdi Guanqun, who identified himself only by his surname, Han, said his company's planned investment is focused on the Rason special economic zone, situated near North Korea's border with Russia.
The zone was called Rajin-Sonbong when it was established in 1991, but failed to attract sufficient investment. It was revived, and re-named Rason, following a visit there in 2009 by Mr. Kim.
Mr. Han said the plan is to develop infrastructure, including docks, a power plant and roads over the next two to three years, followed by various industrial projects, including an oil refinery, over the next five to 10 years. He said the company was waiting for a response from the North Korean government before applying for approval from China's Ministry of Commerce.
"It's all pending at this stage, and it's really up to the Korean side to make the decision," Mr. Han said. He added that the $2 billion figure was what the North Korean side had hoped for, not necessarily what his company could deliver.
Associated Press
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il endorsing a bottle
The company's Web site says the company was "under the administration" of a state-owned enterprise, Shangdi Purchase-Estate Corporation. Mr. Han, however, said his company was "100 percent private."
For the Obama administration, securing China's cooperation in restraining North Korea's military and nuclear-proliferation activities is a cornerstone of a warmer bilateral relationship. But the potential investment is a reminder of possible limits of Chinese cooperation.
The U.S. wants to step up sanctions to force Kim Jong Il to give up his nuclear-weapons arsenal and military activities. China, meanwhile, is increasingly promoting business projects and direct investment to influence the North, say Chinese and American analysts, arguing financial pressure hasn't worked.
China is North Korea's biggest trading partner and aid donor, but the scale of this deal raises concerns in Seoul that Beijing is running its own version of the "Sunshine" policy under which the South boosted investment in the North from 1998 to 2008.
This policy disconnect is expected to be one of the issues Chinese and U.S. officials discuss this week. "These types of deals pursued by China generally present a real challenge to the sanctions" being effective, said Victor Cha, a North Korea expert who helped oversee Asia policy in George W. Bush's National Security Council. "The net effect is that it does make it more difficult for these sanctions to have the desired effect."
Such deals have emerged in the past and have come to nothing, analysts said, and it is possible this one, too, could peter out. A number of similar North Korean economic zones have failed to live up to their billing because of poor infrastructure and corruption, and a lack of economic reform. News of the deal was first reported in the Korean-language press, including the Voice of America's Korean service.
It is unclear how long the agreement has been in the works. But its Dec. 20 signing came on the day South Korea conducted a closely watched artillery test from Yeonpyeong Island near North Korea.
The test marked a high point in tensions after North Korea's surprise late November shelling of Yeonpyeong, which killed four South Koreans. Pyongyang had threatened a swift military response should Seoul carry out an announced artillery test on Dec. 20. But the day's drill came and went amid high security in the South, with the North saying in a statement it "did not feel any need to retaliate."
Top administration officials have recently both praised and chided the Chinese over the North. On a trip to China last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates commended the Chinese for their "constructive" role in reducing tensions on the peninsula after Pyongyang's recent shelling of a South Korean island. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a Friday speech pressed China to be more aggressive in helping tamp down the North's nuclear program.
The proposed investment is among the strongest evidence yet of China's strategy of using direct investment rather political pressure to push for change in North Korea. Chinese experts say that after North Korea's first nuclear test in 2006, China tried to make improved bilateral relations dependent on Pyongyang dismantling its nuclear program. But after a second test in 2009, China changed tack.
Beijing now believes, according to Chinese experts, that the North Korean regime won't respond to political pressure and could collapse completely if China cuts off aid and investment, triggering a flood of refugees into northeastern China, and bringing U.S. troops right up to the Chinese border.
The investment strategy was cemented when China's Premier Wen Jiabao visited North Korea in October 2009 and signed a slew of economic and trade agreements. One of those agreements was for China to fund construction of a $250 million bridge across the Yalu River that separates the two countries.
Construction of the bridge, which would link China with another North Korean special economic zone, had been slated to start in August. Local officials said in November it appeared to have been put on hold indefinitely. Now they say a ground-breaking ceremony was held Dec. 31.
U.S. officials are particularly concerned about how China's financial links to North Korea may be facilitating Pyongyang's weapons programs. In November, Pyongyang showed a visiting American scientist 2,000 centrifuges stationed at a cover site, drastically raising fears about the North's ability to expand its nuclear-weapons arsenal.
"China's increased economic support undercuts the rest of the region's efforts to convince Pyongyang that there will be consequences for further belligerence, nuclear weapons development or transfer of nuclear capabilities," said Michael Green, who also served as a senior official on Asia during the Bush administration.
___________________________________________________________________
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Friday, January 21, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: The Flavor of the Year
Hello,
We are about three weeks in to 2011, and I am already trying to figure out who the "flavor of the year" is going to be. You see, every year in this industry there is only one or two magazines, newspapers or online publications that "have a budget" for original documentary photography; which is what I like to think I specialize in.
These "flavor of the year" publications generally buck the trend of diminishing budgets and layoff's. These publications often have money to burn, indeed some even refer to it as a "burn rate" of original imagery they need to purchase per month. Identifying these publications early, and making good pitches for interesting story ideas, can be the difference between having a great, creative and productive year; or having another year of stale and repetitive work.
Past publications that made a statement by funding original reporting include, but are not exclusive to, Portfolio Magazine, MSNBC.com, Portfolio.com, GlobalPost.com and a host of others. Even the WSJ, after it was bought out by News Corp, was flying me all over China to do some really important and interesting stories. But alas all of that has dried up, and so the trend continues. This leaves photographers, like me, bouncing around looking for the next editor who can actually afford a day rate for a whole week of shooting.
Now sure, many of you may be reading this and think that I'm bitter. I'm not. I'm a happy-go-lucky kind of guy and I've had a lot of great memories and moments being a documentary photographer in China. I will also continue to be a documentary photographer in China no matter how bad the industry gets, because I still strongly believe in what I do and I believe that I have a unique vision of China and how to document it. This is what keeps me motivated. This is what gets me up in in the morning.
My blog today, however, is a REALPOLITIK version of what the photo commissioning landscape looks like at the moment outside of a war zone. As one photographer mentioned a few weeks back in a Facebook posting, "It's like a lottery out there, and I am tired of buying tickets." He was referring to the assignment photography industry, just one job out there for hundreds of photographers who have entered the market in the last five years hoping to earn a living as image makers. Competition is fierce and pay rates are dropping.
So as I sit back and write to editors wishing them all the best for a happy and productive 2011, I wonder which magazines I'll be able to collaborate with best this year. Which magazines have the budgets for the ambitious ideas and strong stories that I want to tell. Sadly, my mind is drawing a blank. Most of friends, who are also editors, have lost their jobs in the last two years; forget about photography budgets most say, there isn't enough money to run the magazine let alone fill the pages with content.
Sure there are lots of problems ahead, and that also means there is a lot of opportunity. Let's put our thinking caps on and pull ourselves out of this industry wide funk.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
We are about three weeks in to 2011, and I am already trying to figure out who the "flavor of the year" is going to be. You see, every year in this industry there is only one or two magazines, newspapers or online publications that "have a budget" for original documentary photography; which is what I like to think I specialize in.
These "flavor of the year" publications generally buck the trend of diminishing budgets and layoff's. These publications often have money to burn, indeed some even refer to it as a "burn rate" of original imagery they need to purchase per month. Identifying these publications early, and making good pitches for interesting story ideas, can be the difference between having a great, creative and productive year; or having another year of stale and repetitive work.
Past publications that made a statement by funding original reporting include, but are not exclusive to, Portfolio Magazine, MSNBC.com, Portfolio.com, GlobalPost.com and a host of others. Even the WSJ, after it was bought out by News Corp, was flying me all over China to do some really important and interesting stories. But alas all of that has dried up, and so the trend continues. This leaves photographers, like me, bouncing around looking for the next editor who can actually afford a day rate for a whole week of shooting.
Now sure, many of you may be reading this and think that I'm bitter. I'm not. I'm a happy-go-lucky kind of guy and I've had a lot of great memories and moments being a documentary photographer in China. I will also continue to be a documentary photographer in China no matter how bad the industry gets, because I still strongly believe in what I do and I believe that I have a unique vision of China and how to document it. This is what keeps me motivated. This is what gets me up in in the morning.
My blog today, however, is a REALPOLITIK version of what the photo commissioning landscape looks like at the moment outside of a war zone. As one photographer mentioned a few weeks back in a Facebook posting, "It's like a lottery out there, and I am tired of buying tickets." He was referring to the assignment photography industry, just one job out there for hundreds of photographers who have entered the market in the last five years hoping to earn a living as image makers. Competition is fierce and pay rates are dropping.
So as I sit back and write to editors wishing them all the best for a happy and productive 2011, I wonder which magazines I'll be able to collaborate with best this year. Which magazines have the budgets for the ambitious ideas and strong stories that I want to tell. Sadly, my mind is drawing a blank. Most of friends, who are also editors, have lost their jobs in the last two years; forget about photography budgets most say, there isn't enough money to run the magazine let alone fill the pages with content.
Sure there are lots of problems ahead, and that also means there is a lot of opportunity. Let's put our thinking caps on and pull ourselves out of this industry wide funk.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Friday, January 14, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: The NPAC Photo Essay
Hello.
I recently had some work featured on the National Photographers Association of (NPAC) Canada's website. To be brutally honest I don't know too much about the NPAC. I knew there was an association, much like the American version; but I had never been in touch with them.
Having lived in China for a decade and spending my entire professional career abroad I never found much use in photography associations; but I can acknowledge that they seem to be very worthwhile for a lot of photographers based domestically, and they seem to offer a lot of legal advice and small business advice which I think is really important.
A link to the photo essay is below. The text that accompanies the work is below as well. I was in a particularly gloomy mood when I was writing this. Watch out for the double dip.
NPAC Website LINK
_______________________________________
As we begin 2011 the world is finally showing some signs of economic recovery. Although there is a sovereign debt crisis in Europe and the United States continues to struggle with high unemployment, companies are making money again and banks are behaving more responsibly. As we all look forward to better and brighter times, it’s important that we learn lessons from the behavior that almost caused the end of the financial world as we know it. Not only are banks to blame but we, much of the general public, simply over-consume and spend beyond our means. Do our actions have consequences? The straight answer is yes; especially in places we would never assume.
In October 2008 when Lehman Brothers, the US Investment Bank, went bankrupt the shock-waves were felt around the world. Banks lined up for government hand outs, the public panicked and we all stopped spending. As a result retailers shuttered and global trade came to a screeching halt. For the small factory town of Dongguan, China; that meant that factories that produce goods for US retailers began going under on a daily basis. After years of farmers moving to the coastal cities, like Dongguan, to work in factories, now everyone was heading homes. Factories had gone bankrupt, jobs had evaporated overnight. In the span of about four weeks from October to November 2008 thousands of factories went under and millions of jobs were lost. Entire housing blocks became empty, the streets once bustling now became silent. Those who opted to stay fought harder for fewer jobs. The seen was one of general chaos. These images were taken in November 2008 while on assignment for Newsweek.
Ryan Pyle Bio
Born in Toronto, Canada, Ryan Pyle spent his early years close to home. After obtaining a degree in International Politics from the University of Toronto in 2001, Ryan realized a life long dream and traveled to China on an exploratory mission. In 2002 Pyle moved to China permanently and began taking freelance assignments. In 2004, Ryan Pyle became a regular contributor to the New York Times covering China, more recently he has branched out in to mostly magazine. Ryan Pyle is based in Shanghai, China. Ryan is a reportage style photographer, working almost exclusively in 35mm format range finder cameras. His work drifts between journalism and fine art as he roams through China shedding light on the country and its diverse people.
_______________________________________
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Friday, January 07, 2011
Ryan Pyle Blog: Shanghai Schools
Hello,
Students in Shanghai middle schools are smart, but how smart? Well, according to a global study that was published a few weeks ago the students that are lucky enough to get in to the best schools in Shanghai are the smartest in the world. Middle School kids in Shanghai, some 5000 of them, outperformed children of the same age from 65 other countries; including the USA and Canada.
How did this happen? Well children in China, and their parents, take their education very seriously. That pressure, combined with discipline and hard work turns out children that are hard working and "book" smart. The same can be said for South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan; where learning is about discipline.
So why is the western world collectively failing in middle school education? Funding? Culture? Rap music? I always find these debates interesting because it is very obvious that the United States, for example, has the best Universities in the world. This is a statement that few could debate. But at the same time the US also has a rotting public educational system and problems with school violence.
After visiting this school in Shanghai, to take the image above, it became pretty obvious that producing a strong educational system requires strong discipline from students and teachers, but even stronger discipline from management. This school in Shanghai was humming with law and order. It wasn't overbearing but it was there. The students all wear uniforms. They all keep themselves, and their desks neat. The hallways are spotless, the school directors office was spotless. How does all this happen?
The key might be respect. The profession of teaching is still respected in China, perhaps less so in the USA. Public school teachers need to be paid properly, and they need to respect themselves in order to gain the respect of their pupils.
One can make an argument that the Chinese system doesn't great entrepreneurs or "free-thinking" adults, or the worlds most creative engineers. And that might be true. But one could also make the argument that the Chinese system provides a better education for the majority of it's pupils. Besides, true genius is rarely found in middle school; those creative forces need to be nurtured and incubated in Universities. Sadly, China's Universities are far far behind the western world; and it's a topic for a whole separate blog.
I'll never forget a friend of mine, named Armstrong. He was my translator and assistant for a week I spent working in Xiamen. He would also tell me that Chinese Universities are horrible, they just want to collect fee's and provide as little as they can. He would also tell me that the education he received in middle school and high school was far superior then his university education.
Food for thought. David Barboza's article is below.
The Original Article is below
Copyright: New York Times
Original Article LINK
Title: Shanghai Schools’ Approach Pushes Students to Top of Tests
By David Barboza
SHANGHAI — In Li Zhen’s ninth-grade mathematics class here last week, the morning drill was geometry. Students at the middle school affiliated with Jing’An Teachers’ College were asked to explain the relative size of geometric shapes by using Euclid’s theorem of parallelograms.
“Who in this class can tell me how to demonstrate two lines are parallel without using a proportional segment?” Ms. Li called out to about 40 students seated in a cramped classroom.
One by one, a series of students at this medium-size public school raised their hands. When Ms. Li called on them, they each stood politely by their desks and usually answered correctly. They returned to their seats only when she told them to sit down.
Educators say this disciplined approach helps explain the announcement this month that 5,100 15-year-olds in Shanghai outperformed students from about 65 countries on an international standardized test that measured math, science and reading competency.
American students came in between 15th and 31st place in the three categories. France and Britain also fared poorly.
Experts said comparing scores from countries and cities of different sizes is complicated. They also said that the Shanghai scores were not representative of China, since this fast-growing city of 20 million is relatively affluent. Still, they were impressed by the high scores from students in Shanghai.
The results were seen as another sign of China’s growing competitiveness. The United States rankings are a “wake-up call,” said Arne Duncan, the secretary of education.
Although it was the first time China had taken part in the test, which was administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, based in Paris, the results bolstered this country’s reputation for producing students with strong math and science skills.
Many educators were also surprised by the city’s strong reading scores, which measured students’ proficiency in their native Chinese.
The Shanghai students performed well, experts say, for the same reason students from other parts of Asia — including South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong — do: Their education systems are steeped in discipline, rote learning and obsessive test preparation.
Public school students in Shanghai often remain at school until 4 p.m., watch very little television and are restricted by Chinese law from working before the age of 16.
“Very rarely do children in other countries receive academic training as intensive as our children do,” said Sun Baohong, an authority on education at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. “So if the test is on math and science, there’s no doubt Chinese students will win the competition.”
But many educators say China’s strength in education is also a weakness. The nation’s education system is too test-oriented, schools here stifle creativity and parental pressures often deprive children of the joys of childhood, they say.
“These are two sides of the same coin: Chinese schools are very good at preparing their students for standardized tests,” Jiang Xueqin, a deputy principal at Peking University High School in Beijing, wrote in an opinion article published in The Wall Street Journal shortly after the test results were announced. “For that reason, they fail to prepare them for higher education and the knowledge economy.”
In an interview, Mr. Jiang said Chinese schools emphasized testing too much, and produced students who lacked curiosity and the ability to think critically or independently.
“It creates very narrow-minded students,” he said. “But what China needs now is entrepreneurs and innovators.”
This is a common complaint in China. Educators say an emphasis on standardized tests is partly to blame for the shortage of innovative start-ups in China. And executives at global companies operating here say they have difficulty finding middle managers who can think creatively and solve problems.
In many ways, the system is a reflection of China’s Confucianist past. Children are expected to honor and respect their parents and teachers.
“Discipline is rarely a problem,” said Ding Yi, vice principal at the middle school affiliated with Jing’An Teachers’ College. “The biggest challenge is a student who chronically fails to do his homework.”
While the quality of schools varies greatly in China (rural schools often lack sufficient money, and dropout rates can be high), schools in major cities typically produce students with strong math and science skills.
Shanghai is believed to have the nation’s best school system, and many students here gain admission to America’s most selective colleges and universities.
In Shanghai, teachers are required to have a teaching certificate and to undergo a minimum of 240 hours of training; higher-level teachers can be required to have up to 540 hours of training. There is a system of incentives and merit pay, just like the systems in some parts of the United States.
“Within a teacher’s salary package, 70 percent is basic salary,” said Xiong Bingqi, a professor of education at Shanghai Jiaotong University. “The other 30 percent is called performance salary.”
Still, teacher salaries are modest, about $750 a month before bonuses and allowances — far less than what accountants, lawyers or other professionals earn.
While Shanghai schools are renowned for their test preparation skills, administrators here are trying to broaden the curriculums and extend more freedom to local districts. The Jing’An school, one of about 150 schools in Shanghai that took part in the international test, was created 12 years ago to raise standards in an area known for failing schools.
The principal, Zhang Renli, created an experimental school that put less emphasis on math and allows children more free time to play and experiment. The school holds a weekly talent show, for example.
The five-story school building, which houses Grades eight and nine in a central district of Shanghai, is rather nondescript. Students wear rumpled school uniforms, classrooms are crowded and lunch is bused in every afternoon. But the school, which operates from 8:20 a.m. to 4 p.m. on most days, is considered one of the city’s best middle schools.
In Shanghai, most students begin studying English in first grade. Many middle school students attend extra-credit courses after school or on Saturdays. A student at Jing’An, Zhou Han, 14, said she entered writing and speech-making competitions and studied the erhu, a Chinese classical instrument. She also has a math tutor.
“I’m not really good at math,” she said. “At first, my parents wanted me to take it, but now I want to do it.”
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Ryan Pyle
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