This post is a sponsored collaboration with the National Railway Museum.
Many weekends and school visits through my youth were spent at the NRM in York so when the opportunity came up to visit Wang Fuchun’s One Billion Journeys exhibition at the National Railway Museum, my immediate answer was a big fat yes!
WEARING | Dress ASOS | Jacket FatFace (similar) | Sandals TK Maxx | Bag H&M
Wang Fuchun has been photographing the Chinese Railway for some 40 years and has accumulated over 200,000 photos during that time. Starting his career on the railways when he was just 20 years old, he was inducted in to the Suihua Railway’s Train Driver Training School in 1963. This is where his passion for taking photos of the people taking these long journeys across China began.
With over 40 photographs from his vast collection, they depict scenes right from when he was a young man and his life on the trains. Images captured include quiet moments between travellers, those commuting and immersing themselves in books and magazines before they disembark and head to work, children playing and hanging from the luggage racks to even spiritual moments between a commuter and a monk.
The exhibition is divided into five themes: Loving & Caring, Entertainment & Boredom, Work, Comfort and Health & Spirituality.
I found the images progress over the years fascinating as it transported me through different times as the country began with long, arduous trips on the railway to reach their next city, to when China began growing and people could jump on trains and get from A to B much quicker.
“This is the culmination of all the experiences of my life and my 40 years of photography, so I’m extremely pleased to be able to exhibit my work in Britain.”
Wang Fuchun
The National Railway Museum boasts an impressive collection of trains from the Queen’s carriages to the modernistic Bullet Train (which I always have to walk through when I go!), The Mallard to the Eurostar and with exciting, interactive experiences such as the Steam Train Ride (which FYI made my absolute day when we visited) and the Mallard Experience which is a simulator ride that takes you on a journey of the Mallard’s record-breaking run in 1938.
You can really turn this day in to a full-blown, show-stopper, family day out. With cafe’s, afternoon tea on a train carriage to ice cream stands – your catering needs are well taken care of too.
As the museum is free entry (yes, you did read that correctly!) it certainly helps the purse strings when finding a fun and interesting day out for all the family, it runs on donations so any amount that you can give is greatly appreciated!
Do you have any fond memories of the National Railway Museum? And, if you could document and photograph a subject for a series – what would it be?
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