The China Project Photo Contest: Tiananmen Tourist, by Bert Oostdijk
Editor’s note: Bert Oostdijk’s photo (click to enlarge) is a 1st Prize winner in the The China Project Photo Contest. All 10 winning photos will be posted one per day, with the Grand Prize winner unveiled on Friday, September 21. Keep an eye on this space for all the winners, and check out yesterday’s photo, Michael Cooper’s “Great Wall in Snow.”
A platoon of soldiers parades marches past Tiananmen gate. Their stern military uniforms run up against cute pink and blue stools: they’re ready to give a show. Blocking their path is a tourist with a roller suitcase and Nike t-shirt. Absorbed by his phone, he is a world apart from the soldiers. And from Tiananmen Gate, Mao Zedong’s portrait observes this confrontation between the old and the new, and continues smiling as always.
