Simple curiosity drove photographer Clark Everett to take a 14-month sojourn to China in 2000 to document the massive social upheaval caused by the Three Gorges Dam Project. His photo documentary is now on display in the Dittmar Memorial Gallery in Norris University Center.
“China is so fascinating because it has one foot in the 12th century, one in the 19th century, one in the 20th and another in the 21st century,” Everett, a Chicago resident, said at the opening reception on Thursday. “The dam project was a back-drop to see the changes taking place.”
 One of Clark Everett’s photos from his trip to China. |
When it’s completed in 2009, it will be the world’s largest hydroelectric dam and will provide much-needed electricity for China’s increasingly urbanized society. The Chinese government estimates that the approximately 400-mile long reservoir created by the dam will displace 1.3 million people from the historic Three Gorges area in central China.
Everett’s exhibit, “Seeking Higher Ground: Life in the Shadow of the Three Gorges Dam,” explores the impact of the construction on both the lives of those living upstream and downstream from the dam. Although the exhibit features the distraught faces of those forced to move from their ancestral homes, it also includes a photo of a man sitting in the dark because lack of electricity created a power outage.
Weinberg freshman John Yang, who lived in China until he was eight years old, sympathizes with both sides of the dam issue.
“If an entire family has known that place and lived there for hundreds of years, moving them will create psychological damage,” Yang said. “But we need to realize that things have to change if China wants to create a better future for young people.”
Leona Lealaitafea, a Northwestern program assistant, said she had heard a lot about the project on the news but that Everett’s exhibit struck an emotional chord with her.
“I see a lost little boy, not knowing where he’s going to live,” she said about her favorite photo, entitled “Boy by Future Water Mark.” “It really shows how inconsiderate the country is to its residents.”
Jeanie Uchiyama, also an NU program assistant, said she hopes to visit the dam this fall.
“The photos of the displaced people really pull at the human heart, you can see how the dam affects people,” she said, “But it will create energy that they need, so it’s a double-edged sword.”
Everett has no specific plans for his next photo documentary, but he said the sojourn to China will hopefully not be his last trip of that nature.
“Every day I walked out of my apartment in China, I learned something new, but it’s tough to do that here,” he said.
The exhibit is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. until May 7 and is free. For more information, visit dittmar.northwestern.edu.