Patrick Zachmann Beijing, China. 1982.
“I took this picture during my first trip to China, in 1982, when Deng Xiaoping had started to open the country to the free market and, little by little, his people to the ou
(...) tside world.
I was nearby the Forbidden City in Beijing, when men and women began to gather around and look at me with curiosity. I was what they called ‘a long-nose,’ a westerner. It was the first time these people had seen a white guy coming from the other part of the ocean. They came so close to me that I was forced to step back to be able to take a picture. I remember one man touched the hair on my arm.
Capa is right. I always try to get as close as possible to my subjects. But sometimes, a close distance is not enough. In this case, even though I succeeded in getting as close as physically possible, I was, and will always remain, ‘a long-nose.’”
— Patrick Zachmann © Patrick Zachmann | Magnum Photos
