China

Swiss photographers Monika Fischer (*1971) and Mathias Braschler (*1969) decided to take one portrait every day on their thirty-thousand-kilometer journey across China. Most of the time they did not know whom they would meet, and so along the way they created an astonishing, kaleidoscopic view of the country’s diverse population, a cross-section of all of society’s classes, ethnicities, and age groups. Their series of documentary photos shows both the winners and losers emerging from the overwhelming changes in the enormous country: the farmer who lives just a couple of kilometers away from the Chinese space center but still plows his small farm with a team of water buffalos; the filthy-rich owner of a yacht club, posing casually in front of his purple Lamborghini; or the little girl from the traveling circus, standing on the table that serves as her stage. Braschler and Fischer give them names, describe their stories, and maintain their dignity.