Calling the shots: photography festival lights up Lianzhou
Lianzhou is not on many tourist itineraries but, thanks to the efforts of one woman, once a year it becomes a hive of activity, as photographers from all over the world descend on the Guangdong town, writes Thomas Bird
In Yuexiu, Guangzhou's historic centre, is a jumbled neighbourhood of villas, some predating the Communist revolution of 1949. Down a back lane, one of these fine old houses bears a bright polished sign that reads "Lianzhou Foto" in bold capital letters.
Inside, all is fierce activity: an enormous Epson printer is running off glossy poster-sized images; editors are resizing photographs on desktop computers; interns are racing about nervously while full-time employees complain of sleep deprivation.
When Duan Yuting, founder and director of the Lianzhou International Photo Festival, arrives, she looks sleep-starved but spirited. The few weeks leading up to an event showcasing more than 140 photographers from across the globe are understandably hectic, but Duan appears to be comfortably in control.
Her office is crammed with enough photography books to make a librarian blush. The walls are adorned with iconic images. The pillows on her couch are shaped to resemble cameras.
The obvious first question is: how does a photography festival held in a remote mountain town, Lianzhou, in Guangdong province become so prestigious an event that it is marked in the calendars of almost all of the world's prominent photographers?
"It was destiny," Duan says, before casually lighting a Camel cigarette.
Duan studied economics at university in the provincial capital, Taiyuan. After graduating, she did what countless other mainlanders of her generation did in the opportunistic post-reform era: she found a job that had nothing to do with her degree.