Rollover for navigation

Bus stop. Outside Vorkuta, Komi, Russia. 2004. - M. Scott Brauer

Bus shelter. Outside Vorkuta, Komi, Russia. 2004. - M. Scott Brauer

Abandoned apartments. Outside Vorkuta, Komi, Russia. 2004. - M. Scott Brauer

Main street. Vorkuta, Komi, Russia. 2004. - M. Scott Brauer

Buried car. Vorkuta, Komi, Russia. 2004. - M. Scott Brauer

Bus stop. Outside Vorkuta, Komi, Russia. 2004. - M. Scott Brauer

I’m very excited to announce that I will be participating in the first Young Media Professionals Exchange Program organized by the International Center for Journalists and Moscow Union of Journalists as part of a 2-year initiative between Russia and the US. The program is funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Twelve journalists from Russia will come to the US to work for a variety of news organizations here, and I will be one of 12 from the US who will live in Moscow from Nov. 26 to Dec. 21 working for a variety of Russian news organizations. I’ll be working for the ITAR-TASS Photo Agency, a Russian photo news service dating to 1926 when it was known as Photochronica TASS.

As such, I won’t be available for assignment work in the US until the end of December, but get in touch if you have any needs in Russia. I’ll primarily be in Moscow. You can leave a voicemail or SMS at (917) 512-3473 or contact me by email. I’ve already been in touch with a few of our readers in Russia to get together, but if you’re in Moscow, get in touch and I’d love to meet you.

It’s been nearly 10 years since I’ve been to Russia, though one of my university degrees is in Russian Language, Literature, and Culture. I wasn’t much of a photographer when I was there last, but you can see a few images from Vorkuta, Komi, Russia, in the gallery above. In addition to the work I’m doing there, I’ll be posting pictures during the trip to instagram and tumblr.

A view of Ulm Pishkun near Ulm, Montana, USA.

I’m traveling to Montana for gatherings with friends and family throughout the state from June 20 to July 6 (Lincoln, Great Falls, Red Lodge, the Hi-Line). I’ll be doing a bit of driving and photography for personal projects during that time, so get in touch if you’ll be in the area or have an assignment that needs shooting.

Matt and Scott are about to send out their quarterly newsletters updating clients and friends about the work we have been up to and the plans for the near future. It is the best way to keep up with what we are working on and where our pictures are being published. You can sign up for Scott’s newsletter here, and sign up for Matt’s here, or click on their respective photos below. We both use MailChimp to manage our newsletters and you can unsubscribe at any time, and we promise not to bombard you more than a handful of times per year.

Renowned MIT chemical and engineering Professor Donald Sadoway, developer of the liquid metal battery, was recently named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. © M Scott Brauer

While most of Scott’s recent work is still under embargo or not quite published, here are few highlights from him, based in Boston, Massachusetts:

• Updates on new work, including recent portraiture and political coverage
• Tearsheets from Education Week, MIT News, Montana’s Office of Tourism, and others
• New-to-you images from Tibetan areas of China in my archive
• Travel images from flyover states
• Information about upcoming travel this summer

A woman in tears as her family and city workers rush to pack their belongings in to city trucks during the razing of the Belville camp in New Belgrade, in an area underneath the New Belgrade train station. The residents of the community had been relocated earlier in the day. (c) Matt Lutton

Some highlights from Matt, who is based in Belgrade, Serbia:

• Lutton will be traveling in the United States from mid-June until the end of August, and tentatively in Africa in September.
• Tearsheets and archive features from recent assignments for The Wall Street Journal, 2012 Magazine and M Le Magazine du Monde.
• Coverage from the Serbian Presidential and Parliamentary elections which took place on May 6, and previewing the second round of Presidential voting on May 20.
• Preview of his new story “The Destruction of Belville” which follows another mass Roma eviction in Belgrade similar to his project Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere from 2009.

Sign up and see the full updates from Matt and Scott when they send their newsletters next week. Thanks again for supporting us and our work, we look forward to sharing more of our pictures and a lot more on dvafoto soon.

Rollover for navigation

A girl watches skateboarders in Keene, New Hampshire, USA.

Parade participants interact with the crowd at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in South Boston, Massachusetts.

Pregnant cattle stand in a holding pen awaiting ultrasounds to determine the progress of their gestation on the Judisch Ranch outside of Ledger, Montana USA. The ranch has more than 700 cattle, primarily Black Angus, most of which are destined to be sold for human consumption.

A young crashed skier lays in powder on a ski run at Showdown Ski Area on King's Hill in the Little Belt Mountains near Neihart, Montana, USA.

People try to get a glimpse or snapshot of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney after the 4th of July parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

A sign reads "Jesus is Lord" in rural southern Minnesota.

People walk along the beach at Ocean Drive State Park outside Newport, Rhode Island, USA.

A marching band rests after walking through the streets of Boston's North End in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Powerlines stand above a snowy field on the road to Highwood outside Great Falls, Montana, USA.

Unlike the rest of her family, Shayreen Izoli, 16, is very devoted to her Muslim faith. "I feel it's my responsibility as a Muslim to be a positive role model," said Shayreen, "I see a negative energy toward Muslims in the media."

George Kleinsassen, a young Hutterite boy, guides cattle in a barn on the Judisch ranch outside Ledger, Montana, USA.

A marching band waits for the start of the 4th of July parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

Protesters from the OccupyBoston movement walk through the streets of the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

A dog stands inside an insurance agency in Sundance, Wyoming, USA.

Graduating students gather in the Rockwell Cage (Building W33) to prepare for commencement ceremonies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A man photographs artwork at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, USA.

Jack Ursitti, age 7, poses for a portrait with his iPad in his home in Dover, Mass., on Monday, July 25, 2011. Jack has been diagnosed with autism, and uses the iPad both for leisure activities, such as listening to music and looking at photos of his family, and for educational activities.

Paul LeBlanc, president of Southern New Hampshire University, takes a phone call in the offices of the school's College of Online and Continuing Education (COCE) at the Riverwalk Mills Building in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire.

Badlands at dusk. South Dakota, USA.

Protestors of the OccupyBoston movement sit outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston near Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Skiers and snowboarders on the hill at Showdown Ski Area on King's Hill in the Little Belt Mountains near Neihart, Montana, USA.

Oktoberfest. Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Dr. Cornel West, Princeton University professor and prominent political activist, spoke with media and protestors at the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

People in a Starbucks coffee shop watch as OccupyBoston marches through the streets of Back Bay, a high-traffic shopping area, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Art Love has worked in the office of Motel Caswell for six years, seen here in the lobby of the motel in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, USA, on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011.

Oilfield road outside Pendroy, Montana, USA.

Hunter. Outside Conrad, Montana, USA.

Romney supporter Barbara Clark, of Nashua, NH, waits for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, to at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011.

Dr. Andreas Mershin, professor in MIT's Biological Engineering Department, sits in his office at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Mershin's current research focuses on photosynthetic photovoltaic power systems. "We would like to be able to grow solar power," says Mershin, "Nighttime access to light is the best way out of poverty."

A small plane flies in the sky above Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA.

I’ve had to wait for a few images to be published before posting my favorite images of last year. A month or so late, here are some of my favorite images from last year. As I’ve written in previous year-end posts, these might not be my best or most widely published or most important pictures of the year, but they’re my favorites. Most of these images are from larger bodies of work or fit alongside other coverage; many are from assignments, but many are not.

It was a year of substantial transition, both personally and professionally. I moved to Boston and developed a host of new assignment clients and stock publishers. I need to send a big thank-you to all the people I’ve worked with over the past year at the Wall Street Journal, Education Week (a couple of my photos are in their Best of 2011), Chronicle of Higher Education, the New Yorker, the Montana Office of Tourism, MIT, Tufts University, BagNewsNotes, CurrentTV, Longshot, Burn Magazine, PHOTO/Arts Magazine, the Ballarat International Foto Bienalle, the New York Photo Festival, Slideluck Potshow, PDN, the Youth Image Project, the Format Festival, 25CPW, the Magnum Foundation and others. 2012 is already off to a bang, and now that I’ve got my feet relatively stable under me in this new locale, I’ll be pushing after some stories I’ve been researching.

You can also see my favorites from 2010 and 2009, posted here previously, and Matt’s pictures from 2011, 2010, and 2009.

Rollover for navigation

Former congressman Rick Santorum speaks to the Queen City Rotary at the Puritan Backroom restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire. Santorum is a candidate for the GOP 2012 presidential nominee.

Led by security and followed by the media, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich returns to his campaign bus after a town hall meeting in Lancaster, New Hampshire. Gingrich is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

While speaking at a town hall meeting in Northfield, New Hampshire, former congressman Rick Santorum holds on to a gilt-edged copy of the US Constitution that he keeps in his pocket. Santorum is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

A campaign sign for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich hangs next to a sign reading "closed" in Manchester, New Hampshire. Gingrich is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

People listen to former congressman Rick Santorum at a town hall meeting in Northfield, New Hampshire. Santorum is seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for president.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista shop at a general store in Littleton, New Hampshire. Gingrich is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

Pins and buttons designed by Tom Bragg of Dallas, Texas, hang on a board for sale at a Rick Santorum town hall in Northfield, New Hampshire. Santorum is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president. The buttons sold 3 for $10.

Members of the media and the public listent to former congressman Rick Santorum speak at a town hall meeting in Northfield, New Hampshire. Santorum is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

Former congressman Rick Santorum speaks to the media after speaking to the Queen City Rotary at the Puritan Backroom restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire. Santorum is a candidate for the GOP 2012 presidential nominee.

An empty volunteer form lays on a table with Newt Gingrich campaign materials outside a town hall meeting in Lancaster, New Hampshire. Gingrich is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

Members of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich's security detail eat lunch while waiting for Gingrich to finish a radio interview at the Northern Grafton County Republican Committee offices in Littleton, New Hampshire. Gingrich is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

In partnership with BagNewsNotes (first post), I’m photographing the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary race this week. I’ve photographed the candidates over the past few months, but it’s crunch time now.

It’s a fast-paced environment filled with a lot of media and political players and a few members of the local public. I’ll post updates periodically here, and BagNewsNotes will have some analysis of the themes that may or may not be seen in general media coverage of the race. The pageantry of it all interests me, but so do the little details hard to see on TV or away from the main events, such as you can see above: Santorum’s gilt-edged Constitution that looks like a Bible, Newt Gingrich’s security team eating cheesesteak sandwiches, the media scrum surrounding candidates everywhere they go, etc.

You can see more from yesterday in my archive: NH GOP Primary – 2012 Jan 5 – Gingrich and Santorum

Editors, get in touch if you need anything from up there.

Rollover for navigation

Members of National Nurses United join the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The protesters are part of OccupyBoston, which is part of the OccupyWallStreet movement, expressing discontent with the socioeconomic situation of the 99% of the US population who are not wealthy. Protestors have been camping in Dewey Square since Sept. 30, 2011.

Dr. Cornel West, Princeton University professor and prominent political activist, spoke with media and protestors at the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Closeups of protestors sitting down outside 125 High Street in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The protesters are part of OccupyBoston, which is part of the OccupyWallStreet movement, expressing discontent with the socioeconomic situation of the 99% of the US population who are not wealthy.

Protesters gather as part of the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Protesters gather as part of the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Protesters gather at 125 High Street as part of the OccupyBoston demonstration in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Protesters gather as part of the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Protesters gather as part of the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Protesters signs lay on the ground during the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Members of National Nurses United join the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

People sign banners with messages of encouragement and protest as part of the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Protesters gather at 125 High Street as part of the OccupyBoston demonstration in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Members of National Nurses United join the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Protesters gather as part of the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Protesters gather at 125 High Street as part of the OccupyBoston demonstration in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Protesters gather as part of the OccupyBoston demonstration in Dewey Square in the Financial District of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

A discarded pizza box has become a tool for democracy in Boston’s Dewey Square. Handwritten cardboard signs communicate protesters’ messages at OccupyBoston, a tent camp and demonstration in the Financial District of downtown Boston. The gathering is an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement started in late September. Protesters here shout, “We are the 99%” and “Wall Street was bailed out. We got sold out,” their chants echoing off the facade of the nearby Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and other major financial institutions. On Wednesday, the protesters received a big boost of support as they were joined by National Nurses United, the largest nurses’ labor union in the US, and Dr. Cornel West. This came after letters of support were issued for OccupyBoston by the AFL-CIO and other major labor and student organizations.

You can see more pictures from the demonstrations at my archive: OccupyBoston – demonstrations in Boston’s Financial District.

Rollover for navigation

The twilight landscape north of Great Falls, Montana, USA.

The hunting campsite outside Sumatra, Montana, USA.

Starting Aug 24 and continuing through the first week of September, I’ll be on the road. I’m starting off in Washington state with a friend’s wedding in Seattle, going to visit family in Montana, and then driving back to Boston without any particular schedule or route, camping along the way. I haven’t decided on which Dakota to go through (though I can feel the call of the roadside attractions of South), nor whether to go down around the lakes or up through the Upper Peninsula and then on into Canada. At any rate, if you’re somewhere along that route and want to meet up, or if you’re an editor and need some pictures in the northern half of the country, get in touch.

Rollover for navigation

Longshot - Issue 2: Debt

Longshot Issue 2 p. 32 by M. Scott Brauer

Photo by M. Scott Brauer. All rights reserved.

Photo by M. Scott Brauer. All rights reserved.

Photo by M. Scott Brauer. All rights reserved.

Longshot Magazine has just published issue #2 (the third issue of the magazine…) after a frenzy of work this weekend. The theme for the issue was “debt.” As in the past, the magazine’s theme was announced and 48 hours later, a magazine was published with photos, graphics, and a trove of writing created, fact-checked and designed, over that two day period. I’m happy to announce that I’ve got a page in the print issue, featuring the above portraits of people in Boston alongside descriptions of how much they owe.

A small army of editors and designers worked behind the scenes to make the magazine, its web presence, and a radio and podcast component. And all of the magazine’s content was created by another army of writers, graphic artists and photographers. Many of the contributions are available online, but some (including mine) are reserved for the print issue alone. It was an open submissions process during the 24 hours after the theme was announced at noon on Friday, and there are plans to publish online all 672 submissions made to the magazine over the weekend.

As before, the magazine has been getting some good press mentions. There’s a huge list of sponsors for this issue, which includes money from a a kickstarter campaign that raised more than double the desired amount of money. Best of all, through these sponsorships, contributors to this issue will be paid.

One of the founders of the project, Alexis Madrigal of The Atlantic, has published a behind-the-scenes look at how the magazine came about, and Heather Jay Billings has some info about the technology behind the effort.

My submission was a humble effort that almost didn’t come to pass. When the theme was announced on Friday, I was flummoxed. Maybe portraits of payday lenders? maybe a study of bank advertising? None of it struck me. Weather was bad in Boston, though, so it wouldn’t have been fun to take pictures on Friday anyway. Waking up on Saturday, I was struck with an idea to ask people about how much money they owe. With a few hours before the deadline, I was striking out. No one was willing to be photographed and tell me how much money they owed. Then I decided rather than asking for a number, I would ask people to describe how much debt they have and that the portraits should be anonymous. Over about 45 minutes, ten or twelve people let me take their picture and told me about their debt. I squeaked in right under the wire, and thankfully, the editors like the project.

The print issue is now available for purchase through MagCloud and an iPad edition is forthcoming. Large portions of Longshot #2 can also be read online.

Rollover for navigation

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks to supporters at the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

An Amherst resident sweeps her sidewalk before the 4th of July parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman gather in the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

A Shriner driving a small car waits for the start of the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks to supporters at the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

Signs for Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty stand against a fence before the start of the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

Gracie Mei, the adopted daughter of Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, is surrounded by reporters while her father is interviewed before the 4th of July parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Huntsman served as US ambassador to China from 2009-2011. Gracie Mei was adopted from China. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul march in the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

Signs for the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman lay on the ground before the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. The signs point to the Jon2012.com campaign website. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

A young boy, surrounded by Romney supporters, asks Republican presidential candidate "If you could be a superhero, which one would you be." After someone in the crowd shouted "Not Wonder Woman," Romney responded that since we grew up with Superman his choice "would probably be Superman." Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gather in the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

People gather by the side of the road to watch the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

A marching band waits for the start of the 4th of July parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

Balloons that read "God Bless America" fly next to the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

Young boys dressed in naval uniforms wait to march in the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

People gather by the side of the road to watch the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

A young boy waits to shake the hand of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during the 4th of July parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gather in the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

People try to get a glimpse or snapshot of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney after the 4th of July parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

A girl sits alone next to the 4th of July Parade in Amherst, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman walked in the parade as part of their campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

Living in Boston now, I’m closer than I’ve ever been to the American political process. The past 15 years of my life have been spent abroad or in places such as Montana and Washington state, places traditionally ignored by national campaigns. With my own eyes, much less a camera lens, I’ve seen foreign presidents and ministers, but never an American president or presidential candidate and only a handful of legislators. Now I’ll be periodically following the 2012 presidential campaign in New Hampshire. Only July 4, I traveled to Amherst for a parade that would include Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman. It’s early in the campaign, so the candidates are looking for any exposure they can get. There were a dozen or so news organizations represented at the event, with no limits to access.

I asked a few people along the parade route what they thought about all of the hubbub. A young girl, all of 10 years old, told me, “It’s always like this.” People lining the parade route were as excited to be there as the candidates. Romney and Huntsman glad-handed every person they could reach, listening patiently to the occasional interlocutor while trying their best not to waylay the proceedings. Once the candidates reached the end of the parade, they greeted supporters and then vanished to go to their next stop.

I’ll be periodically covering events along the campaign trail, especially as the politics heat up. I’m available for assignments throughout New England (I’m only a few hours drive from the most remote parts of New Hampshire) and will be keeping an updated stock of images at my searchable PhotoShelter archive. You can see more pictures from the day in Amherst here.

Sometime last year Scott mentioned to me that he was working on a new and unique project for him. He was still living in China and just beginning the process of putting 100 portraits and interviews together to create We Chinese. He wasn’t quite able to explain then what you he was trying to do, or how he thought it would turn out, but I was intrigued. When earlier this year I got a chance to see the final project I was left in wonderment and very excited, and I had a lot of questions that I wanted to ask as a friend and colleague to find out how this work had come about. I thought maybe we could, in the essence of the Dvafoto project, share our personal conversation with our audience as part of our Dvafoto Interview series.

Rollover for navigation

Shen Yin Ying

Zhang Zheng Ya

Shang Xiao Huan

Wang Bao Ning

Zhou Jia Song

Zhao Yin

Cen Qi

Jin Ting

Bo Wei Jun

Zhao Re Gu

Brauer's handmade website for We Chinese

What started you on the path to making a large portrait project like this, something you haven’t worked on before?
That’s exactly the reason. It was something I hadn’t worked on before. When I meet with editors and show them my work, I often get asked, “Where are the portraits?” I’ve never been a big fan of portraiture (although, to an extent, every photo is a portrait of some sort…), but like I’ve done with genres of music or movies in the past, I decided that if so many people like portraiture, and if portraiture is such a force in contemporary visual communication, I should be able to find something I liked about it if I just really tried at it. So I did.

I also thought that the story I wanted to tell about China through this project, a documentary approach wouldn’t suffice. I wanted to present people and their ideas, the interviews, with as little mediation as possible. I wanted to remove myself from the photography.

Did you, when you were beginning the work, know you were going to be leaving China?
Yes. I’d known for quite a few months before starting the project.

The two questions you asked everyone are in essence about the uncertain, rapidly evolving future of China, it feels like a question you yourself are struggling with. Where did the questions come from?
I wanted questions that weren’t easy to answer and that would get people (both the subjects and the audience) to think about themselves and their country. I worked on these two questions for a while before I thought they were ready to begin asking.

The first, “What does China mean to you?” started off as “What is China?” which I sort of distilled from questions I was asked on visits to the US when friends and family would ask me about life in China or the people or the future of the country and how it fits into global politics and economics. All of these questions could be distilled to “What is China?” But I thought that question was a little too easy to answer by saying something like “A country.” I got those answers with the reworded question, too, but the question gave space to the subject to interpret the question and their answer in many more ways.

And I realized that the first question was mostly a reflective one, a question about personal and national history. If you think about a question like that for your own country, “What does America mean to you?” for instance, you’ll answer about what your experience of that country has been so far and what you learned in history books. The second question was a way to get a glimpse of the future of China from the ground level. We see the 5-year plans and speeches by politicians, we see numbers relating to industry and commerce, and we see a lot of speculation about the country by cable news pundits. The individuals get lost in it all.

Are these questions common in Chinese society?
I don’t quite understand the question. If you’re asking about whether they refer to common sayings or something like that, as in the case of the title of the project, the answer is no. But the questions were chosen specifically to get individual opinions about the country and the people themselves. I had many versions of the questions before settling on the final version of the questionnaire. “What do you think about China?” for instance, instead of “What does China mean to you?” The first question might lead to easy and quick answers–”I think it is good,” perhaps–whereas the final version requires a bit more commitment and thought, the consideration of the country as it relates to the subjects rather than just a feeling about the country.

Were you hoping the responses from the subjects would answer questions you had in your own mind about China?
I was hoping that the responses would help me learn about what Chinese people think about their country. Speaking with Chinese people in China, it can be difficult to get individual opinions about bigger-picture issues. My own questions about the country don’t matter for the project. It’s not my country, and I only have a passing relationship with the place. In fact, the format of the project, with basic and unstylized portraiture and repeated interviews, was designed to eliminate my own input. I’m tired of books and essays from foreigners (my own included) that purport to explain “China.”

Why structure the project in this way, with ‘typological’ portraits, questionnaires, a standalone website?
I talked about the portraits above. The questionnaires filled a similar role in eliminating unnecessary variation in the responses. I figured I’d probably introduce some chaos into the responses by botching my pronunciation of a question…

The standalone website just seemed natural. Like the portraiture, it was something I’d never done for a project. The entire project didn’t feel right getting jammed into my portfolio website. Using a standalone website felt like giving the project its own art gallery. It feels better when it is separate and contained. I also like tinkering around with web programming and enjoy making wordpress do things it shouldn’t. That sounds dirty… When it comes down to it, I thought I had a cool idea for how I wanted the website to work, and I wanted to see if I could do it.

Is this project a closure to your time and work in China? Do you plan to go back?
It could function as closure for my work in China. I’ve got so much unedited work from my time there, though, that I’ll never be done. I’d love to go back any time, but I don’t have specific plans at the moment. I’ve got friends there that don’t have the means to travel internationally, and I’d love to see them again soon. And I miss the food.

I’m not sure if the project is done, though. I’d love to include a wider range of subjects in China or expand the project to other so-called emerging economies.

What is next for you?
I’ve relocated to Boston, Massachusetts. I’m excited to dig in to some stories in the US after being abroad for so long. I’m excited to be home (meant broadly; I’d never set foot in Massachusetts before moving here) and explore the US photographically.

What would be your answer to the two questions you asked of your subjects?
Laughably, I don’t have an answer. Many people I asked about to be in the project couldn’t come up with an answer and apologized because they thought the questions were too hard to answer. I will say that, for me, the country and its people can’t be summarized in a sentence or two, or a photo essay or two. It’s a nation of seeming contradictions–communist and capitalist, rich and poor, developed and undeveloped, Westernized and very mired in its own culture, polluted and working toward forward-thinking environmental initiatives, globalized and very local, and so forth–and that makes it an endlessly fascinating place.

We Chinese is currently featured on Burn Magazine. The project has also been featured on Forbes.com, Global Voices, Prison Photography, La Pura Vida, the China Beat, China Hush, Photoshelter, MetaFilter, PhotojournalismLinks, and here on dvafoto.