Fighting stereotypes with a camera

Kurbanjan Samat believes pictures and real stories are the most eloquent way to talk about Xinjiangers. The pictures 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

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.