Seeing is believing 眼见为实

Before coming to China whatever little I knew about the country came from my interaction with Chinese people abroad, news reports by foreign media and endless speculation. I always felt that the mainland was culturally similar to India, where I grew up, and radically different from the US, where I was born. I never expected to see a Tesla on the road or use Uber to get around the city, but as they say, anything is possible in China.

来中国之前，我对这个国家的大小事情都是通过与国外的中国人交流、国外媒体的报道和无尽的遐想了解到的。我总是以为中国大陆在人文上与我长大的地方印度相同，与我出生的地方美国完全不同。我从未想象过在路上看到一辆特斯拉或使用优步游览城市，但正像他们说的，在中国任何事情都是可能的。

However, the media functions very differently here, and one of my first concerns was whether I'll be able to take pictures freely on the streets of Beijing. Will locals shoo me away? Would they want to be photographed by a stranger? Will the photos be compelling?

然而，这里的媒体功能很不一样，我首要关心的是我是否能在北京的街道上自由拍照。当地人会把我赶走吗?他们愿意被一个陌生人拍照吗?这些照片会引人注目吗?

Besides this, I was concerned with what I wanted to say about China through my photographs. Did I want to blindly add to the ongoing narrative or focus on aspects that one doesn't see in the news. Would I spend my time photographing the guards at Tian'anmen Square or rather be exploring the punk scene in Beijing? Many of these answers became clearer when I began documenting the city through news assignments and daily features.

除此之外，我还关心我想通过我的照片对中国表达些什么。我是想盲目的加入到持续的故事中还是关注一些新闻看不到的方面呢。我该把我的时间花在拍摄天安门的警卫上又或者是探索在北京的朋克的场景呢? 当我开始通过新闻和日常特点来记录这个城市的时候，这些答案变得清晰起来。

My first assignment came minutes after I arrived at the photo department. There was a loud procession on the street outside and my editor told me to run. Getting there I realized the procession was a traditional Chinese wedding between an American and a Chinese girl. It was a unique and exciting start to my internship. The photo was published on page two and was widely circulated online; I was elated.

我的第一份任务在我到达摄影部几分钟后就来了。外面街上有一个热闹的队伍，我的编辑让我跟上去。到了那里之后我意识到这支队伍属于一个美国人和一个中国女孩的中国传统式婚礼。这让我的实习有了一个独特又令人兴奋的开始。照片在第二页上发表并在网上广为流传，我为此感到自豪。

While I'm here, I want to use my foreign perspective as a strength, with the understanding that what may be exotic and unfamiliar to me, may be equally familiar and mundane to a Chinese audience. Although my photographs at China Daily are primarily for a foreign readership, I am curious about how Chinese people see my work. Am I just another outsider projecting my own idea of China onto my photographs, or am I able to work and think like someone who belongs here?

在这里，我就想用我的外国人视角作为一种优势，用我的理解——对我来说可能是异国情调的或陌生的，但对一个中国观众来说却是熟悉而平凡的。虽然在《中国日报》上我拍摄的照片主要是针对外国读者的，但我很好奇中国人是如何看待我的工作的。我是不是另外一个把自己的观点突显到自己照片中的局外人呢，又或者我能够像属于这里的人一样思考和工作吗?

Does my work depict China accurately? Does it provide any insight that one may not get from books? Is it meaningful?

我的作品能准确描述中国吗?它能提供一些书上无法得到的见解吗?它是有意义的吗?

At this point I have more questions than answers and I feel like I've only scratched the surface. Although I would love to play in my backyard for a few years, I hope to one day, play in the field.

在这一点上我的问题多于答案，并且我感觉我只是触及了表面。虽然我很喜欢这样继续做几年，但我更希望有一天我能真正融入其中。

Akash Ghai, 23, is a photographer from India who graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a major in Visual Journalism and a minor in Business studies. He's currently at China Daily's photo department and will complete two months of his internship.

Akash Ghai是一位23岁，毕业于宾夕法尼亚州立大学的印度摄影师，主修视觉新闻，辅修商业研究。目前他在《中国日报》的摄影部门并将完成为期两个月的实习。