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I(H)C12 β Islam
Muslims usually don’t like having their picture taken.
I am always trying my best to respect that, especially when I am working on my own. How often have I been in a situation where I would have loved to photograph, but I just didn’t think that it was appropriate at the time!
It’s different when you’re with an agency that takes care of these things though.
This is one of the shots I got with CFP in Langfang:
Langfang, October 27th 2006.
The guys from the government told us we could shoot whatever we wanted.
I wasn’t sure if the people around the mosque felt okay with what we were doing.
But we had a job to do, and the blame wasn’t on us anyway.
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December 18th, 2008 at 10:31
This is supposed to be a an award winning photograph !!
Wonderful shot !
December 18th, 2008 at 22:59
Actually, massive props are long over due for your representation of Muslims in China. I did Islamic Studies with a focus on China (Or China studies with a focus on Islam?) in college, and trust me, it was lonely.
But the Islamic communities in China are so amazing, and you have done an awesome job bringing them to light. So many Americans think that Muslims only live in the Middle East, and that they are all violent, intolerant terrorists. That's a real shame.
In all my research I have discovered that Muslims in China have coexisted in tolerance with Buddhist and Daoist Han Chinese. In fact, there has been significant bilateral cultural exchange between Muslims and non-Muslims in China, including a lot of inter-marriage.
I always talk about the Muslims of China to people who say that the "terrorists" can't be reasoned with, and who say our only alternative is war. Sure there have been some rough patches, but on the whole, Muslims live peacefully with the Chinese, and have done so for over a thousand years.
So if the Chinese can live at peace with the Muslims, I am sure that the rest of us can too one day!
December 19th, 2008 at 13:11
Steven: Hehe, I wouldn't know about THAT…
Austin: Thanks chief, I always appreciate your comments here, since they always add something to what is already there!