Footsteps and Frames – A Travel Diary Of China

Photography e-Book Review: Brian Rope

Footsteps and Frames – A Travel Diary Of China | Pele Leung

Publisher: Pele Leung Photography

Chinese Edition first published 2016

English Edition translated by DeepSeek AI in 2025

After working in the information technology industry for over twenty years, Melbourne-based Pele Leung decided to change his career and became a photographer. Since then he has travelled extensively in China chasing landscape images and also seeking interesting travel stories. In addition to photography, Leung is also interested in writing, considering it is one of the best ways to complement his photography. His website is peleleung.com. He is on Facebook at peleleungphotography and has videos on YouTube channel @peleleung2688.

Leung had been thinking of rewriting his Chinese e-books in English for a long while. When the new DeepSeek AI software was announced recently, he downloaded a copy immediately. In less than an hour of testing, he decided to use it for this book and within 25 minutes he had his English language version. Whilst it is only available as a PDF, that is not a bad thing. You can purchase and download all 472 pages for the cost of a large cup of coffee.

Leung has previous experience of publishing e-books. Indeed, for a time he administered a Facebook group called Joint Venture eBook Publishing for the Australian Photographic Society, which was designed to assist interested members to learn the needed skills.

So, what is this book all about and how good is it? I expected the images to be excellent as I’ve been familiar with Leung’s work for many years. I was not disappointed. The huge number of diverse images are great. The writing complements the imagery very well.

Having travelled to China 20+ times since 2009, this photo artist has seen far more of that diverse country than most of us and, I suspect, more than a majority of permanent Chinese residents. Whilst I saw a tiny number of the places/events covered in this book during my one short visit to China, my collection of China images is miniscule in comparison.

There are magnificent landscapes – partially frozen waterfalls, snow-capped and sacred mountains, lakes, rugged terrain, sunrises and sunsets are all in this large volume. There are village scenes, panoramic views of very old bridges spanning lakes, golden fields in Xinjiang, nature’s sculptures, grand bazaar souvenir shopping, and much more. Here are just a small sample of Leung’s images.

Jiuzhaigou Sichuan

Xingping Guilin Guangxi

Rugged Scenery of Xinjiang

Zhouzhuang Jiangsu

Hemu Village Xinjiang

Keketuohai Xinjiang

Mengpin Terraces Yunnan

Birds Nest Stadium Beijing

And coverage of “Romance of the Song Dynasty”, a musical stage performance in Hangzhou which reminded me that I had photographed a couple of incredible stage shows including one in that city.

Hangzhou performance Zhejiang

Those few images are but a tiny sample of all that are in this excellent travelogue. And the book is not just a collection of photos. It is much more. The accompanying words tell a substantial story about the elegance of particular places in China, about cruising on the Yangtze River, about the kindness of strangers that Leung has met on his travels, about his amazement at Huangshan. And about peach blossom, winter and the beauty of Taiwan.

It is particularly interesting to reflect on some of the author’s opening words in the book where he reveals that he was already reading Chinese history books when he was in third grade. “Within them, I discovered a fascinating world …. what captivated me the most were the majestic mountains, rivers, and ancient towns that seemed within reach yet were, in reality, impossibly distant. ….. more than thirty years have passed…. my passion eventually overcame all obstacles……I was able to fulfill my long-held dream of personally visiting the places I had read about.”

This is a comprehensive story in words and pictures of more than twenty trips to mainland China and to Taiwan. Do yourself a favour, buy a copy and immerse yourself in the story.

This review is also available on the author's blog here.

Uninnocent Landscapes

 

Photography Book Review | Brian Rope

Title: Uninnocent Landscapes

Author: Ian Terry

Publisher: OUTSIDE THE BOX / Earth Arts Rights

ISBN: 978-0-646-88105-8

Just two days before I began writing, this beautifully designed and printed book, Uninnocent Landscapes, was launched at the Sidespace Gallery in Hobart during the opening of Ian Terry’s exhibition of images from the book. Those who pre-ordered copies were fortunate enough to receive them in the post a couple of days earlier.

Terry tells us the book is the result of two years spent combining landscape photography and historical enquiry, seeking answers to questions. What could the landscape tell him about invasion, colonisation and the destruction of First People’s life and culture? What could it tell him about his own life on the island of lutruwita. He acknowledges that his project didn’t fully answer his questions, despite giving him a deeper knowledge of the landscape’s underlying stories. He intends his book to start conversations and, for that reason, commissioned other essays published within it.

The book is described as a photographic conversation. The foreword, by Tasmanian art historian Greg Lehman (descended from the Trawulwuy people), tells us it is “a 21^st-century response to a journey undertaken by one of the first Europeans to recognise the humanity of the palawa nations.” That journey was George Augustus Robinson’s Big River Mission undertaken in 1831. So, whilst it certainly is a photographic conversation and contains over 50 sharply observed and carefully crafted black and white tritone images, the book is much more than that. It is telling a most important story. And all proceeds, from the book and accompanying exhibition, will be donated to the Giving Land Back Program of the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania - see https://www.givinglandback.org/.

Locked gate ahead © Ian Terry

Terry’s excellent photographs are accompanied by words from Robinson’s journals describing the locations and what he had observed at those places whilst on his Mission. The captions with the photos reproduced here are very much abbreviated selections (by Terry) from the original words. Here is one example of the journal words relevant to the following image.

24 October 1831

This morning proposed to the chief Mannalargenna [Manalakina] to leave some of the dogs behind as they made too much noise. To this he appeared averse, and I observed that I had better tell the Governor that we was not looking for natives but after kangaroo.  He replied that I should tell the Governor I was stopping in the sun.  He is a shrewd man … Came to some large lagoons and encamped for the night … The country round these lagoons is a place of great resort for the natives. There are abundance of eels in these lagoons, so the natives inform me.”

A place of great resort © Ian Terry

Robinson is a controversial figure in colonial history.  He was given a remit by Lieutenant-Governor Arthur to protect and “civilise” the Nunani people living on lunawuni and teach them Christian values. The Big River Mission is often recognised as ending lutruwita First People’s resistance to invasion of their land. Terry’s introductory essay in the book provides considerable information about this part of our unfortunate history. It also explains how the landscapes of lutruwita are, for him, a place of enormous solace.

Melancholy © Ian Terry

 

Clear of wood © Ian Terry

The book also includes text contributions by Rebecca Digney (a proud pakana woman), Nunami Sculthorpe-Green (a proud palawa and Warlpiri woman) and Roderic O’Connor (a sixth-generation farmer committed to a sustainable farming future and returning part of his land to its pre-colonial state). Terry’s photographs helped Digney contextualise Robinson’s recorded events as real, inflicted on real people in real places. They caused Sculthorpe-Green to feel the loss of the landscape. O’Connor acknowledges that he still has much to learn.

Terry himself grew up in Queensland and Sydney. He relocated to lutruwita in 1984, immediately feeling at home on what most of us would agree is a “beautiful island”. He has worked as a national park ranger, freelance historian and heritage consultant. Most recently he has been curator of history at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

So, this well-informed book tells a most important story and, in doing so, provides readers with considerable amounts of quality written and photographic material to assist educate us - even those previously lacking knowledge of any or all of the multiple matters covered.

Indignation © Ian Terry

 

Middle deep © Ian Terry

milaythina © Ian Terry

There are numerous footnotes throughout the book telling us the meanings of Aboriginal words such as palawa. They have been used out of respect. I have also used the same words here for the same reason. I encourage you to purchase and read the book to learn the meanings (and much more) – and to support the cause its proceeds benefit. Move quickly as it is a short-run, boutique publication expected to sell out.

This is a quality book, an important book, one which First Peoples and every other Australian would benefit from reading.

This review is also available on the author's blog here.