As Xinjiang marks the 60th anniversary of its founding as an autonomous region this month, one Uygur is using photography to paint a different picture of the place, report Cheng Lu and Wen Chihua from China Features

When amateur boxer Kurbanjan Samat bought his first camera, he never expected that he would one day use photos to fight the stigma surrounding people from his native Xinjiang, his fellow Uygurs in particular.

"You're thought of first and foremost as a barbecue operator, nut cake vendor, thief or terrorist if you're from Xinjiang," the 33-year-old photographer and documentary filmmaker says, referring to perceptions of people from this restive northwest corner of China.

Following a number of terrorist atrocities in Xinjiang and some perpetrated by Xinjiangers elsewhere, people like Kurbanjan are trying to address these stereotypes.

"If you don't stand up to fight the labels, they may stick to you sooner or later. What happened to Henan 10 years ago (when the province came to be thought of as the center of Chinese counterfeiting) is now happening to Xinjiangers," he says. "Applying labels to whole groups of people reinforces irrational behavior."

We meet Kurbanjan, dressed like a typical young stylish Chinese man in a fitted black shirt, cream rayon pants and black sneakers, as he is giving interviews about his photo essay, I Am from Xinjiang, which tells the stories of 100 Xinjiangers of various ethnicities and professions across China.

Its Chinese and English versions have been well received, and Arabic, Turkish, and Japanese translations are on the way.

Kurbanjan is now raising money to turn the work into a documentary film.

Explaining his motivation for the project, he points to an online comment by a child from Henan who wrote that he has never been to Xinjiang but supports what Kurbanjan is doing because he knows what it is like to combat stereotypes - in his case, that the people of Henan are liars.

"People are often biased and have a tendency to label a certain group after a certain incident," he says. "The stories I told have nothing to do with ethnicity, religion and region. We are the same."

Critics have said that besides Kurbanjan's images what impressed them were the stories behind the pictures. While each image is accompanied by a biography of the subject, Kurbanjan's backstory is no less interesting.

He was born in Hotan prefecture, the source of a type of jade known for its soft and warm characteristics.

However, Kurbanjan's character is just the opposite.

Even from a young age, he would stand up for his principles, often with violence. He believed then that fists could conquer all.

Kurbanjan started learning to box at 16.

"I trained for four months and beat up a guy who had slapped me in front of some girls," he says laughing.

Love at first buy

His love of photography began in 1999, "accidentally".

Planning to spend his savings of 3,000 yuan ($484) on a guitar to charm the girls at school, he was instead captivated by a camera shop's display on his way to the guitar store.

Kurbanjan went in and bought his first SLR.

He has been obsessed with taking pictures of beautiful landscapes and the diverse cultures in Xinjiang ever since.

In 2006, he came to Beijing, in search of a job and a better life.

Here he met his wife, a Beijing-born Uygur, held a number of award-winning photo exhibitions and participated in the shooting of documentary films, but he was troubled by one thing - people's lack of understanding of Xinjiangers.

When he first arrived in Beijing, the quick-tempered Kurbanjan preferred to use his fists when he heard anyone speaking ill of people.

But he was shocked by the rioting in the regional capital Urumqi on July 5, 2009.

"I came to realize that fists cannot solve all problems," Kurbanjan says.

Several months after the July 5 incident, as mistrust of Xinjiangers grew, his landlord kicked him out of his rented apartment in Beijing. Standing in the street, he was angry but helpless.

He had no place to go, no friend to turn to for the night.

He bought his first pack of cigarettes and puffed away through the depressing night.

"Why can't people understand that a few bad apples cannot represent all Uygurs, and Uygurs cannot represent all of Xinjiang?" he asks.

Xinjiang, which just celebrated the 60th anniversary of its founding as an autonomous region on Oct 1, is home to various ethnic groups including Uygurs, Kazaks, Mongols and Tajik, though 40 pecent of its population is Han.

Kurbanjan then decided to do something using his lens.

"Pictures and real stories are the most eloquent way to talk about Xinjiangers," he says.

The terrorist attack at Kunming Railway Station in March 2014 boosted his resolve. He traveled to 20 cities to photograph and interview about 500 Xinjiangers including doctors, celebrities, street vendors and thieves.

In one of the more striking stories in the photo essay, a Uygur thief told Kurbanjan how, aged nine, he was sold by his father to a modern-day Chinese Fagin in the southern city of Guangzhou. His owner beat him on one occasion after he took pity on a female victim and gave her back the money he had stolen from her.

"I tried to make my photo essay objective, covering different types of people from Xinjiang and their stories," Kurbanjan says. "We are all Chinese no matter where we are from - Xinjiang, Beijing or Guangdong."

Kurbanjan's name means "sacrifice". It was chosen as he was born during Islamic festival called the Feast of Sacrifice.

He needs plenty of this spirit to face up to the bias that he encounters.

Misconceptions

He finds misconceptions about Xinjiang and China exist abroad too. Last year, he visited the Indonesian island of Bali. An immigration officer at the airport questioned his Chinese identity due to his Uygur appearance.

"The officer thought I was either from Turkey, India, Iran or Mexico, but not from China," Kurbanjan says. "I cannot speak English. The officer tried to speak Chinese, but it was very bad and I couldn't understand him. He took this as evidence that I was not Chinese."

Fortunately, a Chinese tourist behind Kurbanjan in the line intervened.

"He told the officer that China has 56 ethnic groups with diverse cultures. No single group alone can represent China."

It is these kinds of misunderstandings abroad that have encouraged Kurbanjan to accept invitations from overseas Chinese students and academics to do a lecture tour at US universities.

He plans to speak on "Promoting exchange with love: I am from Xinjiang."

"Love" was the first Chinese character he learnt to write at school.

Love and its usefulness in countering xenophobia stands in contrast to other things Kurbanjan remembers learning about Xinjiang at school. He believes that the Chinese education system puts too much emphasis on the differences between ethnic groups.

One textbook used by Kurbanjan as a youngster depicted Han people as wearing white towels tied around their heads and a with drum hanging from their waists, and Uygurs as dancers with flowery hats.

Kurbanjan says he has never seen any of his Han friends don a white towel. His Uygur friend Perhat Halik, a Chinese celebrity who won second place in the reality show Voice of China 2014, is not good at dancing.

Kurbanjan is no a paragon of virtue. He has how own prejudices.

He seems to have a romanticized view of Uygur thieves, claiming they have "professional ethics" and those plying their illicit trade outside of Xinjiang won't steal from other Uygurs.

He talks in a roundabout way when asked why he thinks he has found success despite many professionals having shot photos and films about Xinjiang.

Some would say his ethnic identity makes him stand out, but Kurbanjan says: "I don't represent any group or region. I represent myself.

"When I take pictures and shoot films, I'm trying to make myself better and understand the real nature of human beings," he said.

Kurbanjan Samat believes pictures and real stories are the most eloquent way to talk about Xinjiangers. The pictures above are some of the Xinjiangners he has taken photos of, and they are active in all walks of life across the nation. Photos Provided To China Daily

(China Daily USA 10/12/2015 page10)