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A tiger skeleton stands in a vat of tiger wine at the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang Province, China. Experts predict increased usage of tiger products during the Year of the Tiger.

Friends toast the Chinese New Year in an apartment in Pingliang, Gansu Province, China.

Red lanterns hang along the streetside in Lanzhou, Gansu, China.

A family gets ready to light fireworks at midnight to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday in Pingliang, Gansu, China. 2010 is the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

Red lanterns hang in apartment windows in Pingliang, Gansu, China.

People light fireworks in an apartment building courtyard in Pingliang, Gansu Province, China.

People light fireworks in an apartment building courtyard in Pingliang, Gansu Province, China.

Street sellers arrange Lunar New Year decorations on a sidewalk in Xining, Qinghai, China.

A woman buys incense and ceremonial paper before the Lunar New Year Holiday in Xining, Qinghai, China.

After a couple weeks in Xinjiang without internet, I’m now in Gansu Province for the Lunar New Year Holiday. I’ll have more to show soon.

Duwei, drummer for the Nanjing-based punk band Overdose, rests in a park with friends before a gig at the small YuYinTang rock club in Shanghai, China.

Just a reminder that a print of Duwei (above) from the China Punk story is up for bid in the Daniel Cooney/iGavel Emerging Artists Auction until Feb. 4. Get it while the gettin’s good.

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Following Matt’s lead, I’ve collected a few of my favorite photos of mine from 2009. It was a relatively good year, with a few assignments, corporate shoots, other gigs, and an award and exhibition or two. Always room for improvement in that respect, and 2010 seems to be off in full swing. The work here is mostly from China, with a little bit from the northwestern United States thrown in. These aren’t necessarily the best photos I took, or representative of everything I photographed, but they’re favorites nonetheless for various reasons.

Sand dunes rise above Dunhuang, Gansu, China, as tourists walk down the city's main tourism district.

After a whirlwind shoot in Shanghai yesterday, I’m leaving today for a few weeks to far western China to pursue some personal projects. Internet connection will be a problem for much of the trip, so please contact me by phone at +86-13770324102. I intend to photograph a few stories including: Tibetan New Year, snow in Xinjiang, development in Xinjiang, a Hui minority wedding, and other subjects. When I return, keep watching dvafoto for pictures. Editors, let me know if you need any pictures.

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Sun Lu Lu, 11, was orphaned in 1999, and was left to live with her grandmother Li Ru Chun in Wang Dong Village, Jiangsu Province, China.

Fan Jian Bo, 11, was orphaned in 1998, and now lives with his aunt and uncle in Fanzhuang Village, Jiangsu Province, China.

Yan Jing Ya, 9, was orphaned and now lives with his grandparents in rural Yi Ling Village, Jiangsu Province, China.

Huo Yang Xia cries as she describes the life of her orphaned grandson Fan Wen Jie, 11, who lives with her in Fanzhuan Village, Jiangsu Province, China.

Flyer for the opening of China Youth at FeztivArt

Location of Art + Shanghai

Four of my images (above) from the series Young and Abandoned, portraits of orphans on the verge of institutionalization in rural Jiangsu Province, China, will be included in an exhibition at Fe艺术iv’Art (Feztiv Art) in Shanghai, China, from January 22-26th, 2010. There is an opening on January 22 at 6:30 pm. I’ll be there.

The festival was created by the Artdidact, the Artistic Commission of the French Junior Chamber International of Shanghai, whose aim is “to take part and contribute to the progress of the global community by giving to the young the opportunity to develop their leadership skills, their social responsibility and the necessary solidarity for taking actions to produce positive changes. Members of the JCI identify and realize projects to serve the positive evolution of their city in all fields: arts, social, economics, cultural, community…”

The subject of the exhibition is “China Youth,” and the pictures will be on display at Art + Shanghai Gallery at Fumin Lu, Lane 22, House 2, (Near Yanan Lu). Phone: +86-21 6248 4388. In the off-chance that someone in Shanghai is reading this, I hope to see you there.

Duwei, drummer for the Nanjing-based punk band Overdose, rests in a park with friends before a gig at the small YuYinTang rock club in Shanghai, China.

I’m excited to announce that one of my prints, above, is on the block in Daniel Cooney’s iGavel Emerging Artists Auction. The reserve is US$200. The auction began Jan. 14, and will continue until Feb. 4.

The rest of the auction is worth a look, too. Among the photography, I particularly like the photos by Jody Ake, Ina Jang, Shane Lavalette, Wayne Lawrence, Nicole Lloyd, Michael Marcelle, Kelli Pennington, Irina Rozovksky, Jake Stangel, and Lyndsy Welgos. If you’ve got some spare wall space (and some cash burning a hole through your pocket), make a bid.

M. Scott Brauer - Haikou, Hainan, China.

Happy holidays from dvafoto. May your days be full of good food, good pictures, and good times with friends and family.

A family looks out over Xuanwu Lake in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.

I’ve returned to China after a successful round of editor meetings in New York. In Jiangsu Province, at the moment, but quickly will be en route to Sichuan Province. Facebook remains blocked by the Great Firewall. I can be reached by email: scott.brauer@gmail.com, by skype: m.scott.brauer, or by phone: +86-13770324102 or +1 (917) 512-3473.

Hopefully I return to regular posting here on dvafoto. I’ve got a number of posts planned, from photobombs to cropping as lying to meeting with editors in NYC to photography that’s recently inspired me to some excerpts from my own recent work.

As always, drop a line if you’ve got something interesting to share. Our audience here is growing.

Fader #61 May/June 2009 - from Todo El Mundo fashion feature pp. 96-97

There’s a new tearsheet on my portfolio site, this one from Fader #61 (the whole issue is available as a downloadable pdf, as well). I’m honored to be in the company of the other great photographers involved in the shoot: Gabriele Stabile, Dominic Nahr, G.M.B. Akash, and Christopher Anderson. There’s a short story on the Fader website about how the shoot was put together behind the scenes, as well. The shoot, now a couple months ago, was a blast for my first foray into fashion.

A tiger skeleton stands in a vat of tiger wine at the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang Province, China. The wine is said to imbue drinkers with various health benefits such as strength and virility. The wine sells for 780 renminbi (about US$110.00) per half kilogram of liquid.

I realized the other day just how long it’s been since I shared some of my own work on dva. I’ve been shooting a lot over the past few months, some on assignment, some on personal projects. Here’s a small piece from the Harbin Siberian Tiger Park in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. These pictures fit in with my work on China’s deplorable zoos.

Tourists gather around tiger sculptures outside the entrance to the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang Province, China.

It’s no wonder that Harbin’s Siberian Tiger Park is as well-known as it is. The park houses more than 100 of of the endangered Manchurian Tiger, also known as the Siberian Tiger, in a large grassland enclosure, and, most famously, allows visitors to ride in buses among the tigers and feed live chickens, cows, and other meat to the tigers. The park is partially funded by private donations and may serve a role in the preservation of the species, which numbers at less than 400 animals in the wild. One of the oddest features of the park is the visitors’ center. Shops there sell toys, stuffed animals, hats, and other items made from tiger fur, and various displays provide information about the species’ history. Additionally, one room is dominated by a large aquarium filled with wine and a whole tiger skeleton. The wine sells for 780 renminbi (about US$110.00) per half kilogram of liquid. People who drink the wine believe it is beneficial to one’s health, increasing one’s power, virility, and strength. The wine and other tiger products created from tigers at the park draw much criticism from animal rights activists and conservationists, and with good reason. While the park claims to preserve the species, little is apparently being done to rehabilitate the tigers, ready them for the wild, or, really, do anything other than entertain tourists and provide fodder for traditional Chinese medicine products and souvenir trinkets.

Tigers jump to grab pieces of chicken thrown by a zookeeper during feeding time at the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang, China.”

A woman burns ceremonial paper to mark the Lantern Festival, the end of the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival holiday, in a souvenir shop at the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang Province, China.

Large tiger sculptures decorate the entrance to the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang Province, China.

Stuffed animals and masks made with real tiger fur hang in a display for sale at the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang Province, China.

Visitors to the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang, China, ride a tourbus through a tiger enclosure to catch a glimpse of the endangered animal.

Visitors to the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang, China, ride a tourbus through a tiger enclosure to catch a glimpse of the endangered animal.

Souvenir vendors stand outside a kiosk selling stuffed tigers and other toys at the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang, China.

Visitors hold small pieces of beef, purchased for about US$1.50, through a protective cage to feed to tigers at the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang, China.” alt=”Visitors hold small pieces of beef, purchased for about US$1.50, through a protective cage to feed to tigers at the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang, China.

Tigers run to cages after feeding time at the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang, China.

A zookeeper plays with a tiger after feeding time at the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang Province, China.

Photographs of tigers decorate the entrance road to the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang, China.

A tourist leans past the first fence of a tiger enclosure to get a picture at the Siberian Tiger Park in Haerbin, Heilongjiang, China.

More work from the park available at my Photoshelter archive or through the embedded gallery below: