History, not photography, brought me to Beijing. I arrived in late 1993 as a graduate student, intending to spend a year at Peking University studying the Tang dynasty Empress Wu Zetian. But I felt restricted on campus and wondered, “Where is the real China?” I began working in NEWSWEEK’s Beijing bureau, and in early 1995 found myself assigned as a “fixer” for a visiting photographer. That was Peter Turnley; he asked if I’d ever taken photos myself (which I had, but not to make a living), gave me plenty of film and asked me to bring my own camera on the assignment in order “not to get bored.” I’ve spent the last few years photographing everything from military parades to punk rock bands. And I’ve never been bored.
