China: Portrait of a People
by Tom Carter
Blacksmith/Haven Books,
HK$280
It must have been a daunting task for Tom Carter to set out to photograph all 33 provinces and regions of China, including Hong Kong and Macau. But capturing the diversity of its 56 ethnic groups is a remarkable achievement.
What makes it even more remarkable is that the photographs were taken with a point-and-shoot digital camera, an Olympus Camedia C-4000. In these competitive days of high-end digitals, the C-4000, first sold in 2002, is a relatively happy snapper. Its meagre four megapixels are now at the bottom end of the pile and almost matched by the latest mobile phones. Nor can you store many shots on its Smartmedia card, the largest available being 128mb.
To be fair to the camera it was initially applauded for the quality of its lens, but it would not be most photographers' tool of choice; it is, however, small, unobtrusive and tough. And surely that was how Carter managed to capture many of the candid shots in the book without intimidating too many of his subjects.