These photographs were made by the late R D (Tom) Hutchins (1921-2007) during a four and a half month visit to China in the summer of 1956. LIFE magazine published some of this work early in 1957, but the collection of over 6,000 images lapsed into obscurity when Hutchins could not find a publisher in the 1950-60s. More of these historical photographs will be added to this set as they are digitised ready for publication and exhibition. - John B Turner, Projects Manager, Tom Hutchins Images Ltd, New Zealand. Photographs ©Tom Hutchins Images Ltd, NZ.

These photographs are part of my documentation of the Pingyao International Photography Festival, Shanxi Province, China, as an event unique for its scope, ambition and location within an ancient walled city. 2013 was its 13th year of operation, and organised by a small staff of dedicated visionary educators, headed by artistic director Zhang Guotian, a dedicated photographer and curator in his own right. And, as every foreign participant soon gets to know, PIP is ably supplied with dozens of volunteers by the visionary language teacher Amy Liu, and others. PIP is a big event, that makes wonderful use, on a slim budget, of disused industrial factories for displaying photographs in every nook and cranny, inside and outside, sunshine or rain. It attracts hundreds of accomplished practitioners, along with up-and-coming photographers, students, teachers, curators, editors, publishers and members of the photography industry and Pingyao's residents. They show the work of a relatively small but not insignificant number of foreign photographers, including renowned international figures, such as Roger Ballen this year, and Josef Koudelka in 2012, and celebrate work from often neglected countries which have their own leaders and activists for this truly democratic medium. PIP is a veritable hive of activity and networking, a museum and contemporary space with walls, that provides a broad state for the vitality and scope of Chinese photography, in particular, and is helping to promote Chinese art and culture for anybody with eyes. This is a profoundly rewarding festival for people of all backgrounds. To borrow the words of the great US curator, John Szarkowski, talking about a small collection of New Zealand photographs he saw in the late 1960s, PIP "is not perfect but it has the life juices in it".