For the South China Morning Post Magazine cover story, Charlotte Ming investigated Chinese artifacts looted during the Boxer War in the early 1900s, now housed in German museums.
The long-form feature unpacks the ethical dilemmas museums face in reassessing their colonial-era collections, the complexities of restitution, and the charged history that continues to underpin China-Western relations.
United Archives International/imago
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Under German roofs
Germany's colonial history extends beyond Africa; it also includes China. A personal exploration on why the German colonial legacy in my hometown Qingdao remains largely unknown in Germany and the contradictions within both countries' cultures of remembrance.
Photo: Rijksmuseum
National Geographic
Dog collar or slave collar? A Dutch museum interrogates a brutal past
Under pressure from former colonies and activists, the storied Rijksmuseum is digging deeper into its collections for a fuller narrative.
Photo: Chen Ronghui
National Geographic
The young and lonely hearts of China’s shrinking cities
As China struggles to revive its industrial heartland, its young people grapple with isolation.
Photo: public domain
Atlas Obscura
Trapped in Museums for Centuries, Maori Ancestors Are Coming Home
New Zealand’s repatriation program brings human remains back and lays them to rest.
Photo: Laetitia Vancon
National Geographic
On Scottish Islands, a Generation Caught Between Past and Future
Laetitia Vancon intimately portrays young Scots in island communities that are gradually losing their inhabitants.
Photo: Marc Sebastian Eils
Atlas Obscura
Ngonnso Will Finally Return o Cameroon
The only known depiction of the queen mother of the Nso people was taken to Germany 120 years ago.
Photo: Yuyang Liu
TIME
Nine Chinese Photographers You Need to Follow
This list features the new generation of Chinese photographers and visual artists, all under 35, who offer a glimpse into the ever-changing country and what it means to be Chinese today.
Photo: Melissa Spitz
TIME
Navigating a Mother's Mental Illness Through Photography
Photographer Melissa Spitz spent the past six years documenting her mentally ill mother. For her, to fully confront the moments of chaos and, at times, ugliness of life — emotions often concealed outside of close family circles — was a difficult journey.
Photo: Michael Vince Kim
National Geographic
An Identity In Limbo For Post-Soviet Koreans
A mass deportation decades ago brought thousands of Korean immigrants to Central Asia. Now their culture is in danger of vanishing.
Photo: Léonard Pongo
National Geographic
A Country Where Faith Becomes a 'Necessary Evil'
A photographer returns to his family’s homeland to explore the intersection of Christianity and power in the post-war DRC.
Photo: Antonio Faccilongo
National Geographic
A Million People Live in These Underground Nuclear Bunkers
Beneath the streets of Beijing, people live in an underground universe constructed during the Cold War era.
Photo: Thomas Sauvin/Until Death Do Us Part
TIME
Double Happiness: The Strange Use of Cigarettes at Chinese Weddings
Cigarettes played an unexpected role in Chinese weddings in the 1980s and '90s: the bride had to light a cigarette for every man attending the wedding banquet as a token of gratitude.