A selection of images from my first monograph, Undercurrents, published by TImezone 8. The work consists of 5 stories photographed in China from 1999 - 2008.
Sino-Russian North-Korean tri-border. China.
New residential complex under construction. Tumen, China.
Looking towards the Russian border. Dongning, China.
Skating ring. Hunchun, China.
Waitress. Hunchun, China.
Chinese bosses and Russians. Suifenhe, China.
Luxury massage parlour. Hunchun, China.
Russian prostitutes. Suifenhe, China.
Border hotel. Dongning, China.
Suifenhe, China.
Bus bar. Dongning, China.
Sunday. Suifenhe, China.
KTV. Hunchun, China.
Railway to Russia. Suifenhe, China.
Reindeer sculpture. Dongning, China.
The Yangtze River. The construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest in the world, displaced 1.5 million people and submerged cities, towns and villages, the collective total exceeding over a 1000 along a 700km stretch on China's longest river. Chongqing, China.
A worker returning home after a day’s work at the Three Gorges Dam construction site. In the distance, a three-storey boat is dwarfed by the gigantic 1.3 mile wide construction which has nearly blocked off the river. Although the final completion date for the dam was not due until 2009, the dam has been operational since 1st June 2003. Sandouping, China.
An old passenger boat on the waters of the Yangtze River by the Three Gorges. Hubei, China.
The last vestiges of normal life in a virtually destroyed town. The mass exodus of its population has turned the city's old district into a ghost town. This bridge, once the defining landmark of the city, is just weeks away from being dynamited. Wanzhou, China.
The destroyed old city of Wanzhou, only a few remaining local inhabitants are left behind. Mostly migrant workers remain to dismantle the city by hand and occasionally by using explosives. Wanzhou, China.
Recent settlers from the new city return home after a visit to the banks of the river. In the foreground the old city of Fuling has been razed and the land reclaimed to protect it from the soon to be rising waters. The front row of darker buildings are all that is left of the old city. Higher up in the distance, a strip of lighter buildings mark the beginning of the new city. Fuling, China.
Two brothers playing in their home. Their family are one of the last remaining inhabitants in this partially demolished town. Badong, China.
Families relocating by boat. Yangtze River, China.
Labourers unloading sacks of salt from a nearby barge. Many of the labourers in cities and towns along the river come from surrounding villages in the hills, they flock to the larger towns for jobs and better wages. Yun Yang, China.
One of the last remaining inhabitants, a barber works in a demolished high-rise building where only the ground floor remains intact. Wushan, China.
A migrant worker at a construction site in the new town. The town is built higher up the mountains and will replace the old town that will eventually be submerged upon the completion of the Three Gorges Dam. Yunyang, China.
Migrant workers from surrounding villages dismantling a recently vacated building. The dam has had many far-reaching impacts, one of which is the destruction of a combined total of over a thousand cities, towns and villages along the river. The purpose of dismantling buildings are to clear a path for the eventual submergence and to prevent disenchanted ex-inhabitants from returning to their old dwellings. Badong, China.
Locals looking at Badong, a town that will eventually be two thirds submerged when the Three Gorges Dam is completed. Badong, China.
Migrant worker heading to the local docks after the recent demolition of the old town. Zigui, China.
A displaced family travelling by boat to relocate to one of the coastal cities in the East. The displaced are encouraged to move to new cities or under-populated regions, generally impoverished areas such as Xinjiang, Tibet and Gansu. However, many have also taken their chances by joining China’s 150 million floating population and travelling to the richer coastal cities in the East in search of work. China’s complex residential laws mean that many of those who choose to relocate to places that do not fit with the Government’s relocation programme will lose out on social benefits. Yangtze River, China.
The last remaining family moves home. In the background is a levelled construction site, which used to be the site of the old city. Wushan, China.
A view of the The Three Gorges a few days before the waters rise due to the inundation of the dam. Yangtze River, China.
A view of the Three Gorges Dam under construction seen from the Yangtze River. Sandouping, China.
New coal power station under construction. Tonghua, Jilin, China.
Living quarters for workers. Tonghua, Jilin, China.
New cooling tower. Tonghua, Jilin, China.
Workers. Tonghua, Jilin, China.
Old storage tanks. Tonghua, Jilin, China.
New coal power station operational. Tonghua, Jilin, China.
Coal stock pile. Tonghua, Jilin, China.
A mural in a village depicts a famous Chinese waterfall. Linfen, Shanxi, China.
Reserves of coal at a large coking plant. Linfen, Shanxi, China.
Coal depot. Linfen. Shanxi, China.
Crops by a dirt track going past a coal power plant. Linfen, Shanxi, China.
Tar refinery plant. Linfen, Shanxi, China.
Coking plant. Linfen, Shanxi, China.
An electrified fence surrounds the perimeter of a small coking plant in a village. Linfen, Shanxi, China.
A new cooling tower looms above workers returning home from a coal power station. China’s rapid industrialisation over the past 20 years has seen the construction of huge numbers of mainly coal fired power stations. According to the World Resources Institute, throughout history the cumulative emissionsbased on CO2 data, show that the five major emitters—the United States, European Union, China, Russian Federation, and Japan— together contributed to two-thirds of the world’s historic CO2 emissions from 1850 to 2011. Tonghua, China.
Workers having an evening off at a games hall. Tai Yuan. China
China has been the biggest emitter of CO2 since 2007. In 2013, China exceeded the EU’s emissions on a per capita basis for the first time. It produced 7.2 tonnes per person to the EU’s 6.8 tonnes, whilst the US remained far ahead at 16.5 tonnes per person. However, it is worth noting that 20% of China's emissions, are driven by demand for Chinese products from consumers in Europe and the US. Benxi, China.
A bar hostess at a workers' games hall. Tai Yuan, China.
Steel plant at night. Tonghua, China.
Workers at a steel and iron plant. Steel and iron production is one of the most energy-intensive industries worldwide, its use of coal and coke as the primary fuel for production means that it has the highest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in any industry globally. Tonghua, China.
Coal miner in a small colliery. Linfen, China.
Coal miner in a communal bath at a colliery. Linfen, China.
Workers are working at a coking plant. The production of coke releases highly toxic substances into the atmosphere that is often carcinogenic. Workers in these industrial plants are often directly exposed to the fumes emitted from this industrial process. Benxi, China.
Worker in a small coal mine. China is the largest coal user in the world and has the unenviable record of the highest number of coal miners with lung problems. Datong, China.
Migrant workers at a coal mine outside Datong in Shanxi Province. Datong is dubbed as the coal capital of China, and the province Shanxi is the largest coal producer in the country. China.
Communal baths. The grounds of this steel plant is covered by a layer of dust from the emissions of the factory. China is the largest producer of sulphur dioxide in the world, a major component of acid rain that comes from the burning of coal. Tonghua, China.
Worker in a small coal mine. China has a total of 28,000 coal mines, 24,000 of which are small ones. Small coal mines are the ones that have the worst safety record. The economy has been developing rapidly and does not have enough electricity to power its economic boom. Given this huge need for power and the existence of so many small private coal mines, there are huge problems in regulating the industry. Datong, China.
Steel Plant working through the night. On a global context, the manufacturing of steel, generates 70,000 pounds of total waste, all of which requires treatment, recycling, or disposal. Tonghua, China.
Flames shoot out of a coke plant as coal is burnt to create coke. Benxi, China.
A part of an advert on the perimeter walls of a coal power station has the words "...International Standard" in Chinese. The roads and nearby farmland in this small village are blackened with coal dust and fly ash. This particular power station is situated by a school and some local residences within the village. Linfen, China.
A smokestack in the near distance belches flames as dusk sets in. The ground is covered with ash and dust from coal-fired plants. Linfen, China.