The following is a small collection of photographs from the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China. Photographer Greg Amgwerd took these gorgeous photos of a terrible event on a Leica M6 camera. A point of interest: although these photos were taken on a film camera, they now only exist in digital form because of damage done to the negatives while they were being processed in Asia.

Once a building crashes down, it becomes a texture. Once your life is crushed down in an earthquake, you can choose to despair, or allow the new life rush in. Find the photo below with the smiling friends. That’s hopefulness.

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies event category.