UT Photojournalism Students, 2008

Project overview:
A reporting team from the University of Texas at Austin embarked on a five-week journey through China in early summer 2008, tracking down stories and shooting photos as the country prepared for the Olympics. The Reporting China Maymester Abroad Program is a five-week program, through the University of Texas College of Communication, that takes place immediately following the spring semester. Fifteen print and photojournalism students, under the auspices of Professor Tracy Dahlby, traveled to Beijing, Xi’an, Hangzhou and Shanghai, and filed reports along the way. The following are selections of the photojournalist work completed during the program.

A man in a Chinese warrior costume waits to greet visitors and pose for pictures at Great Wall. Photo by Katherine Fan.

A customer has his bicycle serviced at a repair kiosk on a narrow hutong. Photo by Katherine Fan.

With young people moving to the cities for work, many towns like Xiejiaqiao just a few hours from Hangzhou are left with mostly very young and elderly populations. Photo by Rebecca Davis.

Beijing night markets include exotic fare like scorpions, starfish and seahorse on a stick. Photo by Rebecca Davis.

A sailor hangs out the portside of a ship transporting steel domestically to the Shanghai port. Booming construction around China keeps the local shipping industry busy, even if rising fuel costs deal a blow to global trade. Photo by Katie Hayes.

Meat distributors deliver goods to butcher shop owners in the Muslim Quarter of Xian. Photo by Katie Hayes.

Xiejiaqiao village men gather indoors for a game of mahjong during a summer afternoon storm. Photo by Larissa Mueller.

Wei Zhuang village children squat in neat rows in the school courtyard for their English lesson. Photo by Larissa Mueller.

An old man stops chopping bamboo to stare at foreigners in Xiejiaqiao, a small village 50km north of Hangzhou. Photo by L.A. Reno.

A baby being carried in a basket on the back of an older woman enters a shoe store in Xian’s urban center. Photo by L.A. Reno.

A fishmonger in a Xian outdoor marketplace takes a rest in the afternoon heat. Photo by Michelle Connolly.

While cars quickly become the primary mode of transportation in large cities, the bike is still king in Wei Zhuan. Photo by Michelle Connolly.

Fishermen mill around on a pier at Beijing’s Houhai lake. Photo by Patrick Michels.

A small boy gets a little help down the steps from one tower near the Great Wall’s Mutianyu section. Photo by Patrick Michels.

Participating photographers:
Michelle Connolly
Rebecca Davis

Katherine Fan

Katie Hayes
Patrick Michels
Larissa Mueller

L.A. Reno


More about China on the Brink.

All content on this page courtesy of Tracy Dahlby, and may not be copied, reproduced or otherwise redistributed without express permission. Info last updated 10/30/08.

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