Volunteer photojournalist snaps photographs for elderly villagers living in remote mountainous areas of China’s Shaanxi

Since 2018, Yang Xin, a photojournalist from northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, has taken pictures for more than 2,000 elderly people from mountainous rural areas in the province. In the photos, big smiles can be seen on the faces of the elderly residents, most of whom have never even walked outside of the mountainous areas where they were born.

Four years ago, during a visit to a mountainous village in Shangluo city, located in the southern part of the province, Yang took a picture for a local elderly resident. When she showed the picture to the elderly person, the latter felt very happy and said: “When I pass away, my family members can remember me by looking at this photo.” Yang said she was sad to hear that.

Yang also found out that many elderly residents in the locality had never previously had the chance to leave the mountainous areas where they were born. When some people in the locality passed away, their family members didn’t even have a single photo of them and so had no images to remember them by. It was on this account that Yang embarked on the road towards taking photographs for elderly villagers free of charge.

Photo shows Yang Xin taking photos for an elderly resident. (Photo/CCTV)

Elderly villagers queue up to wait for Yang Xin to take photos for them. (Photo/CCTV)

In 2018, supported by a charity organization, Yang organized her first photography activity. At first, she and other volunteers worried that there wouldn’t be so many elderly villagers who would be interested in the activity. To their surprise, the activity attracted the participation of quite a large number of people.

Photo shows an elderly villager with mobility difficulties posing for a picture in front of the lens of Yang’s camera. (Photo/CCTV)

In the photos taken by Yang, most elderly villagers are seen smiling. Many of the elderly villagers said that the photos of them taken by Yang are the best photos in their possession. Over the past four years, Yang and her friends have taken pictures for more than 2,000 elderly villagers from over 10 remote villages in Shangluo.

Photo shows elderly villagers picking out their favorite pictures taken in front of Yang’s camera. (Photo/CCTV)

Villagers put a big smile on their faces after receiving their photos. (Photo/CCTV)

“I want to do my best to help the elderly villagers live out the rest of their lives with fewer regrets and offer a sense of happiness to them,” said Yang. “I also want to keep doing this as long as I’m able to do it,” Yang expressed.

In fact, Yang has long been engaged in charitable causes. She registered with the China Marrow Donor Program (CMDP) as a volunteer hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donor a long time ago.