Fu Yongjun is renowned for his long-term observations of a quickly changing rural landscape
From a tree beside the famous West Lake in eastern China to the daily lives of residents in a Beijing hutong, Fu Yongjun is known for his long-term observations of a fast changing society.
Now 49 and a photojournalist for 15 years, Fu – a winner of multiple photo awards domestically and internationally – wants to dedicate the next phase of life to the country’s vast rural areas.
Amid rapid urbanisation and President Xi Jinping’s initiative to alleviate poverty by 2020, many villages across China are disappearing, and Fu hopes to build an archive of images for 100 that remain.
He has photographed 20 of the villages over the years. And to make more time for the expanded pursuit, he quit his job as director of photography at the Hangzhou-based City Express to teach at a college in the city, which he believes will allow him to invite more people to participate in the project.
It was his work with a group of children and their beloved teacher in a mountainous village in Chongqing that brought him the renowned photojournalism contest award for the second time in 2013.
Last year, more than 15 million Chinese children aged between six and 15 were separated from parents who had moved to cities for work, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education, and those “left behind children” remain a stark reminder of the fallout caused by China’s quick development.
“China’s urban areas have been through great changes in the past decades; so have the vast rural regions,” Fu said. “To look at China clearly, we must go deep to the countryside.”
The person who led him to this village was Fu Xiangjun, a college student in Chongqing whose parents work in Hangzhou.
In 2006, the photographer caught the scene of Fu, then just a schoolgirl, leaving on a train for her hometown of Chongqing after spending the summer holiday in Hangzhou with her parents.
