China protests, spring, 1989 Tiananmen Square and Changchun

It is almost June 4th, the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. These photographs of protests in Beijing and Changchun, China have, for the most part, remained in a tin box since that spring, when they were taken. I was studying there at the time and felt the urge to document what I saw happening outside my compound walls.

I thought that I would publish these photographs now in the event that they may hold some importance to those who were involved, their families, or historians. Looking at them again, after so many years, I am touched by the memory of these people’s optimism (most of the photographs were taken before the massacre), their confidence that freedom was just a moment away.

I would like to make the disclaimer that at one point there was some sharing of photographs by my professor in China, Roger Howard, and some other students who were also a part of the field study, and, though I remember taking many of these shots, there may be some that are not mine.