Tom Carter spent 2 straight years backpacking a groundbreaking 35,000 miles across all 33 Chinese provinces, and was named one of China s foremost explorers by The World of Chinese magazine His first book CHINA Portrait of a People has been hailed as the most comprehensive book of photography on modern China ever published by a single author He is also the editor of Unsavory Elements, an anthology about foreign expats in China He co authored a Chinese language travelogue, The Farther I Walk, The Closer I Get To Me , , with his wife Hong Mei about their year backpacking together across India Tom was born and raised in the City of San Francisco and has called China home since 2004DIA REVIEWS OF TOM s BODY OF WORK CHINA Portrait of a People Tom Carter is an extraordinary photographer whose powerful work captures the heart and soul of the Chinese people Anchee Min, author of Red Azalea Tom Carter s photo book is an honest and objective record of the Chinese and our way of life his camera leads us through 33 wide sweeping scenes of the real and the surreal Mian Mian, author of Candy One of China s most extraordinary explorers The World of Chinese Capturing the diversity of China s 56 ethnic groups is a remarkable achievement There are a number of shots in this book that could easily grace the pages of National Geographic Unless you want to undertake your own two year trek through some of the mainland s most difficult terrain to take your own shots, this is a study well worth having on your bookshelf South China Morning Post Through Carter s journey of self discovery, we end up discovering a little about ourselves and a land so vast, so disparate, that 638 pages of photos barely manage to scratch the surface Still, CHINA Portrait of a People is a very good place to start peeling back the layers Time Out Hong Kong Getting a full picture of China a vast country with an enormous population, a place that is experiencing sweeping cultural and economic changes is, of course, impossible But Tom Carter comes close It s a remarkable book, compact yet bursting with images that display the diversity of a nation of 56 ethnic groups San Francisco Chronicle In China Portrait of a People, Tom Carter shows us that there are actually dozens of Chinas The American photojournalist spent two years traveling 35,000 miles through every province of China by bus, boat, train, mule, motorcycle, and on foot Christian Science MonitorUNSAVORY ELEMENTS Great vignettes from world class writersa celebration of the outsider s experience in China, in all of its juiciness and fetid rancour Time Out Shanghai The result is a highly readable, often humorous, and at times brilliant book that is unerringly direct the authors gathered together here do not shy away from troublesome issues Asian Correspondent The title dis serves theme range, humor and insights in this book place it among the best of its kind Asia Sentinel Funny, poignant, and wrye outcome is a depth and variety about the expat experience and life in China that is almost unsurpassed Asian Review of Books A surprisingly refreshing, instead of rehashing, collection of essays, written by professionals, instead of amateurs times hilarious, at times beautiful, but always relatable China.Org Although other anthologies have featured outstanding journalism about China by Western writers, Carter s collection is the first to focus on the wide ranging experiences of foreigners living in China China Daily