The Tour - an introduction

When my friend Joe asked me go with him on a group tour of China, I jumped at the chance. But the word “tour” has a stigma. Most people immediately conjure up images of blue-haired ladies in bright flowered dresses and straw hats, complaining about how things are better at home.

Yet this tour had the potential to be different. It was organized by Sam Wang, professor of photography at Clemson University. Sam was born in China and his wife Yu Xin - who'd spent most of her life there - was making the arrangements. The premise of the trip gave me more encouragement. Sam was inviting several photography educators and we’d visit a number of art institutes around the country. We’d be able to tour campuses, meet with students and teachers and check out what was happening in the contemporary Chinese art scene.

The tour was more than a little different - it turned out to an extraordinary, life-changing event. The arrangements were beyond anyone's wildest dreams: 4-star hotels. Incredible food. A mind-boggling schedule filled with visits to some of China's most awesome attractions. Trips to some of the country's best art education facilities. Opportunities to mix with art students and professors and exchange ideas.

The group itself was small – only 12 people, including Sam. Not one member was a blue-haired lady. During the 18 days of the tour, remarkable bonds were formed - friendships that are certain to be lifelong. Humor became our glue. When we parted, I was startled when tears came to my eyes.

Since the thrust of the tour was an educational exchange, no one brought “serious” photo equipment. But that didn’t stop this group from shooting thousands of images. We talked about ways to share the images among ourselves, as well as friends and family and anyone else interested in Chinese culture. The idea of the blog was born.

We've split our photos into 10 categories. Group members have contributed 3 shots for each. The sample images below serve as links. Double-clicking on them will take you to a photo album. Using the slide show feature once you arrive at the album is a particularly effective way of viewing the images. A post at the bottom of this page lists the members of the group and gives a short bio of each.

We hope you enjoy sharing our journey.

The Great Wall

The Great Wall Album

"Climbing the Wall" - Sam Wang

to enter the album, double-click on the sample photo or the album title

Beijing

The Beijing Album

"Temple of Heaven" - Joe Tomasovsky

to enter the album, double-click on the sample photo or the album title

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City Album

"Forbidden City Detail" - Jeff Van Tine


to enter the album, double-click on the sample photo or album title

Xian

The Xian Album
"Xian Dance Practice" - Donna Goodman

to enter the album, double-click on the sample photo or the album title

Nanjing

The Nanjing Album
"Lights at the Confucious Gardens" - Sam Wang


to enter the album, double-click on the sample photo or the album title

Hangzhou

The Hangzhou Album
"Hangzhou Sunset" - Chris Anderson

to enter the album, double-click on the sample photo or the album title

Shanghai

The Shanghai Album

"Shanghai Skyline" by Dewey Ervin

to enter the album, double -click on the sample photo or the album title

Art Institutes

The Art Institutes Album

"Art Student" - Joe Tomasovsky

to enter the album, double-click on the sample photo or the album title

Culture Shock

Culture Shock - Album 1

"Ten Thousand Flowers" - Tom Anderson

to enter the album, double-click on the sample image or the album title

Group Shots

Group Shots - Album One


Group Shots - Album 2

to enter the albums, double-click on the sample photo or the album title

Members of the Group

Sam Wang

Born in Beijing and raised in Hong Kong, Sam received his MFA in photography from the University of Iowa and taught at Clemson University for 40 years. His work evolved from multiple imagery to photo-silkscreen, to using cameras that he constructed, a variety of alternative printing processes, and digital. Much of his recent work combines digital imagery with alternative printing processes: platinum/palladium, cyanotype, and gum.

Christina Z. Anderson

Christina is an assistant professor of photography at Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana. Her specialties are experimental and alternative processes. She received her undergraduate degrees in French from the University of Minnesota, painting and photography from Montana State University, and an MFA in photography from Clemson University. She
has written three books--The Experimental Photography Workbook, Tutti Nudi - Reflections on the Reemergence of the Nude during the Italian Renaissance and Alternative Processes, Condensed: A Manual of Gum Dichromate and Other Contact Printing Processes. In the works is a book devoted solely to gum printing. To see Christina's work, visit CZAphotography.com

Dewey Ervin

A Texan, who immigrated to South Carolina, I’ve practiced Orthopaedic Surgery for 30 years in Florence. I’m married to a Real Artist (Donna Goodman) who has opened lots of doors for me, including this exceptional trip to China. To join eleven remarkable photographer/artists was an opportunity “way over the top”. Traveling, talking, watching the shooting styles, and eating with these guys was a prodigious experience.

Photography is a passion for me. Capturing frozen slices of life is pure fun. Once a film and wet darkroom photog, I feel I’ve been set free by the digital era, able to shoot, manipulate, and print all in my digital living room. You can see examples of my work on a wall in the WC of a restaurant in Shanghai.

Donna Goodman

Raised on a twenty-mule team tobacco, cotton, pig, and cow farm on the cusp of a Carolina Bay; Donna H. Goodman is a native of Sumter County in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. She is Professor Emeritus of Art at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC. Goodman started producing digital images in 1993. Since then, her work has been included in over seventy nationally juried exhibitions and fifteen international exhibitions. Her work may be viewed by clicking here.

Kim Rushing

Kim grew up in Tylertown Mississippi. He studied photojournalism at the University of Southern Mississippi then gave it up for a BFA from East Tennessee State University. He finished his formal education at University of Texas with an MFA in photo. Kim finally returned to Mississippi to begin the first BFA emphasis in photography in the State. The curriculum received NASAD accreditation in 1994, at which time he intended to leave the Mississippi Delta. His feet got stuck in some gumbo mud and is still there improving his photo program.

Michael Sinclair

I was born in Edmonton, Alberta, an air force brat who caught the travel bug early. After getting a BA in economics and spending too many years working in Dilbert-ville, I took up photography full time about 4 years ago. A workshop in historic photographic processes led to my current concentration on digital negatives for albumen and platinum/palladium prints, which I pursue from my home about an hour's drive northwest of Toronto.

Joe Tomasovsky

I grew up on the Gulf Coast, graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and attended LSU for post -graduate studies in Education. I moved to Florida and taught photography for 28 years before moving back to the Gulf Coast last year, just before Katrina came ashore. I enjoy the creative possibilities that come with integration of digital imaging with conventional photography.

Ellis Anderson

Writer, community activist and rank amateur photographer. I'm also the author of this blog and feel very honored that the group trusted me with the task. Joe Tomasovsky is my friend who graciously invited me to share this once-in-a-lifetime event. Unfortunately, I'm not related to Chris and Tom Anderson, other members of the tour who ended up feeling like family.

update, 2011: My book, "Under Surge, Under Siege, the Odyssey of Bay St. Louis and Katrina," was published by University Press of Mississippi in 2010. It features 50 images by Joe and me. I'm currently a freelance writer/photographer living in Bay St. Louis, MS.

How We Got the Name

How did we arrive at the name for the tour? Sometime in those first few days, Sam told an old joke while we rode on a bus threading through the insanely chaotic traffic of Beijing. Here's a written version:

A panda walks into a bar. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why? Why are you behaving in this strange, un-panda-like fashion?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda walks towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

Lynne Truss

Jeff had his own variation on the tour name...

Thanks

Sam Wang
by Kim Rushing

On our return, one of our group members, Dewey Ervin, wrote a perfect letter to Sam Wang, the organizer of our tour:

Sam:

Our trip to China was no ordinary journey. In many ways, it was unlike any trip Donna and I have ever taken. The experiences, the exposure to the way China is evolving, the pure number of people around us, the feelings of some of the people we met ( particularly Benjamin in Hangzhou) about where the country is and where is may be going, and the most significant- our group of "Photo Educators". The bunch you put together, by choice and some by happenstance, sure did work! Each person, to the man or woman, had something very special to contribute to our time together. I certainly feel enriched by the adventure.

Please give this to Yu Xin:

Dear Yu Xin:

We all, the "Photo Educators" group, want to thank you very much for organizing our trip to China. The time and effort that you must have put into this journey for us must have been great. You thought of everything, down to having our guide lead us to the right platform at the train station. We would have been completely lost in lots of situations if not for the meticulous planning. We got to see so many of the important things of China, and I think did get a feel for some of the significant things evolving in your country- the incredible amount of construction, the booming economy, the tree planting everywhere! We were treated with kindness and respect every place we went, and couldn't have been made to feel more welcome.

Thank you for your loan of Sam. He was most attentive to seeing that we saw what we were supposed to see and that we got there as painlessly as possible. Sam had a really tough job herding 11 people around, each of which felt that they knew where to stop and what to photograph for how long. But, we all came out good friends, knowing we all shared in a very important adventure.

The meal you had for us at the beautiful restaurant in Nanjing was spectacular! We're still talking about the special things on the menu. Goose feet probably have been talked about the most as being the most different. I think that that night we felt like we were experiencing real Chinese cuisine with no significant Western influence. Your presence was very much missed.

Again, thank you, thank you both!

Dewey