Young Photojournalist’s Inspirational Shots

Zhu Danyang， born in Suichang， Zhejiang Province in 1984， is a photo journalist of City Express， the most widely circulated newspaper in Hangzhou affiliated with Hangzhou Daily News Group. The hardworking young man in his 20s has produced powerful realist photographs that deeply touch readers and give readers a powerful timely insight into news events.

“The Dacuos” is one of the pictures taken by Zhu in Jiegu Town， Qinghai Province after the Yushu earthquake in April 14， 2010. In this photograph， homeless Dacuo， suffering injuries to the legs， is sleeping on a bed salvaged from the ruins. Dacuo and his family members stay there with no roof above their heads. Behind them are a group of PLA soldiers rushing to provide disaster relief.

Unlike some other photojournalists， Zhu Danyang create news photos that always give people strong aesthetic satisfaction. For his superb shooting skills and distinctive aesthetic sensibility in “The Dacuos”， Zhu won the Gold Award in Youth Group at the 23rd China National Photography Art Exhibition， which is the biggest and most famous national exhibition held by Chinese Photographers Society with the longest history in China.

This prizewinning photo and other photos he took in Yushu highlight the young photographer’s professionalism and aesthetic achievement. Each relates a story. Take， for example， a panoramic photograph Zhu took in Jiegu.

On his way back to the camp after spending 10 hours photographing around Jiegu， Zhu suddenly realized that he had not got a panoramic view of Jiegu Town after the catastrophe. Though hungry and thirsty， he decided to take some photos from a nearby hilltop before the sunset. Fighting high altitude anoxia， he trudged through shrubs to the hilltop. To his astonishment， he saw yawning cracks on the hilltop. Using the cracks as the foreground， Zhu clicked away. Daylight was ebbing away rapidly. After taking photos， the young photographer found it almost impossible to descend the hill. Just as he began to worry， a Tibetan lad saw him from down the hill. The boy came to his rescue. He came up to the hilltop， took Zhu by the hand and led him safely down the hill.

In photographing disasters， Zhu likes to capture human concerns. His photos show compassion， not only his but also that of the disaster-stricken people. This is perfectly testified by a group of noteworthy photos he took in Jiegu Town: Tibetan monks. The pictures speak eloquently about who they were and what they were and what they did.

Zhu Danyang is born in a rural family in Suichang. His father is a government official at a local town while his mother stays at home and takes care of the family’s farmland. The family emphasized education. As a kid， Zhu studied assiduously and wanted to be the best. He was enrolled as a student of communications journalism at Zhejiang University.

When he turned 20， his mother gave him 900 yuan as birthday gift. Her mother had learned that a student of journalism must know how to take photographs and the expertise was a must for good employment. When the second semester of the freshmen year started， Zhu bought a camera with the cash and began to take a photography course at the university， a year ahead of his classmates. He did photographing assignments on the campus at first. Then the budding photographer took to street. He often pedaled a bike through the city， trying to photograph the people and the city. During this period， he averagely photographed a roll or two films a week. Pretty soon he began to work as a photo journalist for the university’s newspaper. It was during this time that Zhu Danyang set photojournalism as his career goal.

Zhu Danyang matured rapidly under the guidance of his teacher at the university and the media professionals in Hangzhou. Xu Zhong， the university’s teacher of photography recommended the young photographer with good professional attitude to work as intern at People’s Livelihood， a newspaper that had just come into circulation. It was during the summer vacation at the end of his sophomore year. Under the guidance of Zhao Gang， an editor of the newspaper， Zhu published 20 news photos in Qianjiang Evening News and 54 in People’s Livelihood. During this period of time， the young photographer learned how to roam in the city and capture on camera what attracted his attention. In the third summer vacation at college， Zhu Danyang worked as an intern for the Zhejiang Bureau of Xinhua News Agency. His tutor was Wang Dingchang， who used to work as a photographer in London for the agency. Under his tutelage， Zhu published more than 200 photographs. In November 2005， he earned a scholarship issued by Southern Metropolis Daily for journalistic excellence. With such hands-on experiences and good track records， Zhu Danyang landed his first job with ease with Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily.

He first worked in Shenzhen and then in Guangzhou. Many of his assignments were routine， but he did them gladly. Many assignments enabled him to see people in various fields and under various circumstances. He often needed to wait and watch patiently to see if anything interesting would happen. When he was not so busy， he would roam streets to photograph whatever attracted his professional eyes. He worked hard and diligently. His zest and professionalism paid off. Two of his street photographs won awards at provincial and national competitions. He chose and did a few projects of his own. After he was back to Guangzhou， his assignments were about politics and business. These assignments enabled him to document important events such as the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to motherland and May 12 earthquake in Sichuan.

While working for Southern Metropolis Daily， Zhu won many prestigious awards. Back in Hangzhou as a photographer of City Express， he has won a silver award for a group of eight photographs on the West Lake Music Festival.

Zhu is determined to pursue his dream of photojournalism. He understands that realist photographs capture real moments and that these photographs will not fade and will generate an powerful insight into history. He knows he has a long way to go. Just as he puts it: “The head behind the camera needs to go through a lot more to be mature and professional.” He knows as a beginner he has traveled relatively smoothly and he is ready to photograph the future.