Moments of Transition

words and photographs by Patrick Dransfield

In the words of the author, “For me the photograph “Datong Boys, summer 1986”which is our cover photograph expresses a moment of liminality. Taken from across the desolate basin of the Shi Li river directly facing the Yungang Buddhist caves, the boys stand between child and adulthood. China itself in the hot summer of 1986 was at a liminal moment. The year was a very positive time to be in China: Deng Xiaoping was in power and his deputy Zhao Ziyang began enthusiastically implementing the ‘Open Door Policy’ to encourage foreign investment. Even the most brutalized Chinese intellectual believed her life would never again be subjected to the chaos of the Cultural Revolution (1965-1976). The future trajectory for China could only be up.

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For three months, I dedicated myself to taking pictures – the Seagull camera proved a perfect companion as I could smile and enter into the scene that I was capturing. I was averse to the notion of taking photographs that would demean or somehow patronize the subject and a periscope camera held chest height proved a very amenable medium.”