China: The House of Butterflies

I don’t like photographing poverty. It’s like somebody coming to your house with a camera and trying to root out the ugliest things. I was basically invisible. My photography was about people; people without bothering them.

I just arrived at places. I did not really follow some great plan. I just wandered around China. I would just get on a train or a bus. I often arrived at some place just because I liked the station and I would get out. And it turned out to be a wellspring of photographs.

It was one of the most turbulent times in China. It was horrific. People really, really suffered. When I started to photograph, I didn’t want to change the world. I wanted to see the world. I wanted to experience the world. I was just madly interested in this country. I fell in love with China and its people. I was just totally awestruck by them.

Pavlos Kozalidis 2022