More a photographer than an author, Bernd Hagemann presents a book of few words, but many ZZZZs. Sleeping Chinese (2009, Blacksmith Books, English-Chinese, 148 pages, HK$85) presents a collection of full-page color photos from China that show people snoozing in public. With a little imagination, readers can hear the snoring.
Does no one in this compact, quickly read picture-book stay awake? With a sense of humor, the German-born photographer points his camera at easy-to-find weary people.
In 2002, Hagemann arrived in China to work at a joint-venture business. After a year in Beijing, he moved to Shanghai. There, Sleeping Chinese sells especially well.
Enamored with China's citizens, the newcomer soon noticed that “on every street corner you can find people napping in the strangest positions and situations, even snoring in deep slumber…. We hear news reports of the rise of China and its sleepless economy, often with sinister undertones supposed to alarm us. The reality can look different, more peaceful.”
He began to think of the “China story” about its surging economy as incomplete. Not everyone always joins the bustle. “I started to take photographs of the people so easily at rest. My collection of pictures grew and grew, and so did the interest in them. That was the birth of Sleeping Chinese…. The calmness, flexibility and adaptability of these people, who are jointly responsible for the revival of China, fascinate me. I'd be happy, if I could bring some of these feelings to you.”
Even the most diligent workers need sleep. Suitably, the book's introduction praises hard work “by all the migrant workers who play a central role in China's success story, but seldom receive the attention they deserve”.
Every reader will find favorite photos. The images appear in three categories: hard sleepers, soft sleepers and group sleepers.
“Those who snooze in hard and uncomfortable places can fall asleep anywhere – even on piles of bricks in a construction site. In one of the most popular photos… a man in a uniform and peaked cap sleeps on a bench in a roadside park. He makes himself comfy on the armrest intended to prevent people from lying down. Although his body is contorted into an S shape, it doesn't stop him…. This man is a hero of hard sleepers.”
As for the soft sleepers, “Although those who prefer soft and comfortable places also happily snooze in public, they are a little more fussy…. One truck driver with a hammock swung under his cab is a typical example. In another picture, a salesman in a fish market snores in a red plastic tub. Although large crabs rattle around nearby, the sound of running water soothes him to sleep….”
Public naps may suit the group sleepers best. “Yawning is contagious, but group sleeping has its benefits…. Two men on either end of a see-saw are almost perfectly balanced in height and weight, and their peaceful breathing creates a rock-a-bye motion…. And members of a traveling family need no pillows when they have each other's knees and shoulders.”
Inevitably, this amusing book renders its readers drowsy too. For most authors or photographers, that would spell disaster, but not for Hagemann. Sleeping Chinese makes good bedtime reading and may hold medicinal value against insomnia.
Let's take one more look at those photos. ZZZZZZ!
Approval rating: 71 per cent.
For more information: www.blacksmithbooks.com or www.sleepingchinese.com
(August 1, 2010)
A driver dozes in a hammock under his truck.
'Members of a traveling family need no pillows
when they have each other's knees and shoulders.'
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