| Portrait of a People is a great achievement for someone who by his own admission knows almost no Chinese and, when he arrived in China, had zero knowledge of the country or its people. |
卡特承認自己幾乎不認識一個中國人，當他剛來到中國的時候，對這個國家和人都一無所知，因此出版這樣一本畫冊對他來說，委實是個不小的成就。 |
| Indeed, Carter says the book happened by accident when, after he returned from his first round trip of China, he was urged by family and friends to publish his pictures. But since he decided to publish and promote the book, he has gone about it with the drive and professionalism one would expect someone who was once a publicity-savvy full-time political campaigner in the United States. |
卡特說，事實上此書的出版是一個偶然，是他第一次中國游歸國之后，在家人和朋友的鼓勵下出版的。然而自他決定出版并宣傳該書起，他就如同一名深諳宣傳之道的美國全職政治活動家，在這當中展現出非凡的干勁和專業水準。 |
| Perhaps the book's main strength is its spontaneous, empirical approach, the lack of any detectable agenda. As Carter put it, "I am no apologist for China. I'm the first to reveal its flaws. I was not out to make the country look beautiful but I wasn't out to target it either. Everything in the book is just the way China presented itself to me. It's an honest portrayal." |
這本書的主要優點可能在于它采用了自發性和經驗性的拍攝方法，不會讓人感覺到是在預先安排好拍攝對象的情況下拍攝的。正如卡特所說：“我不是中國的辯護者。我是第一個暴露它不完美之處的人。我拍攝照片不是為了美化這個國家，也不是為了攻擊這個國家。這本書中所展現的一切正是中國呈現在我鏡頭前的。這是一個忠實的記錄。” |
| China: Portrait of a People is published in Hong Kong by Blacksmith Books and Haven Books. |
《中國：一個民族的畫像》由Blacksmith Books和Haven Books出版社在香港出版。
（China.org.cn 何珊 譯）
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![Tom Carter (L) shares his photos with local people in China. [File photo]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20091009/0011432100f50c38e62304.jpg "Tom Carter (L) shares his photos with local people in China. [File photo]")
