Having recently heard a piece on NPR's Leonard Lopate's show on the Uighurs and China's discrimination against this ethnically divergent group, I decided to bring some related photographic coverage to TTP...and I chose the excellent work of Carolyn Drake to do it.
Carolyn Drake is a Brown University graduate who worked as a concept designer and producer of multimedia projects in New York before deciding to become a photographer. She studied at the ICP and obtained a masters in Visual Communications. She was chosen by Magenta Foundation as one of the emerging photographers in 2007. Carolyn currently lives in Istanbul.
China's Uighurs are ethnically Turkic Muslims, and are mainly living in Xinjiang where they make up about eight million of the 19 million people. Uighurs are increasingly worried about Chinese immigration and erosion of traditional culture, especially during the post-September 11 environment. China claims that individuals disseminating religious and cultural messages in Xinjiang are terrorists who have simply changed tactics.
Carolyn Drake's website. Click on Uighurs gallery.
