Behind the Billboards | Final

The Economical rise of Beijing has also it's shadowside. Every year many immigrants arrive at the West Railway Station. Most of them, in the search for fortune, find work as an constructor or collect recyclable waste. They are the hope of their family's far away in the village. Nobody want to lose their face, so they can only go back with enough money to spend.

"One World One Dream" say the 4 big billboards wich you'll se when leaving the trainstation. Those who where not able to find their fortune and therefor could not go home because of shame, lived in these billboards.

China did everything to create a perfect and spotless image of the city for it's western visitors to the Olympic Games. That's why they cleaned up the whole area behind the billboards, as soon as the news went round about a western photographer who was trying to make contact with the immigrants.

The lives of these people shows the thin layer between what China wants the West to believe and the harsh reality.




This is the last photo made after the people were send away. See the slide show for all the photo's