The Tea Horse Road is one of the longest trade routes of the ancient world. It facilitated a vital exchange between tea and horses for 13 centuries between China and Tibet. The route stretches 3,000km via a network of trails, gorges and passes which were crossed by horse, mule and yaks caravans together with human porters.
Over the course of two years, Freeman compiled this visual record from the Tea Mountains of Yunnan and Sichuan to Tibet.
Although the talk was mainly aimed at the people there who had come to simply hear more about the region it was still interesting to view the images and the way they were presented.
Freeman’s oeuvre is documentary reportage and his work really gave you an insight to how these people lived and worked from preparing the tea, transporting it and their cultural mores.
Puerh tea has long been known for its benefits and it is found along this route.
This body of work including the use of an infrared camera for shots of the tea trees where the people were at work, panoramas and many portraits.
Through Freeman we were given an insight into the lives of these people, how they worked in the fields, prepared the tea cakes, their horses at work, the dangerous paths they crossed along the route. But the focus was not just on the work and the tea, he also gave us an insight into their culture including; the annual festival held in thanksgiving for the gift of the tea leaves, their music and arts and crafts.
Freeman also captures a way of life that is in decline – cormorant fishing – by spending time with a man who still uses this type of fishing to survive.
Included in the presentation were a couple of short films including Freeman himself going across a gorge by a cable suspended from one side to the other. The use of these films enhanced his presentation as they were relevant and timely in his presentation.
Overall an impressive collection and some food for thought for me on capturing people and ways of life that are changing or in decline.
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