I would normally try not to be political and neither post anything relating to photojournalism but since my blog like many others are blocked in China I am obliged to write about an interesting debate and photo presentation happened in Cagliari (Sardinia) from a dissident writer Ma Jian. Thanks to Italian Newspaper L'Unita' who presented the photo gallery.
Ma Jian , author of "Stick out your tongue" (Small Daily Life stories from Tibet) and Beijing Coma ( a fictional novel based on the Tian An Men riots in 1989), presented some rare images of the Beijing riots where many young students has been killed. The photos taken from Ma Jian (who lives as refugee in London) are few and cruel, show how a country have "eaten" his own children. Students laying on the ground over crossed by tanks and killed to educate the mass. I visited China one year after the riots, Beijing was controlled and tight on the eve of the first anniversary of such atrocity, the ideals were washed out and the brain washing was already started. Nowadays students dream to buy a car, an apartment, watching silly show like in italy or in USA.....
Photography has a deep sense of truth, even when is subjective but is this case is witness of an historical time, many chinese dont know what happened that day in Tian An Men, some who knows never see these photos....
