FORMAT International Photography Festival 2015 ______ 50 Contemporary Photobooks from China (2009-2014) Curatorial Proposal by Yining He, Beijing, China
China has a fascinating history of photobook publishing. As Martin Parr considers, China is a forgotten land of photobook that no one knew about. The Chinese Photobook exhibition, coproduced by the Rencontre d’Arles and Aperture, revealed for the first time the richness and diversity of this heritage. Entering the new millennium, China as the world’s second largest economy is undergoing the most rapid urbanization. As a result of these emerging challenges and creative energies, contemporary Chinese photography has flourished into one of the most vibrant art forms of our time. In the meantime, the publishing of independent photobook among young photographers has become a trend over the past five years. At the early stage, some Chinese photographers published photobooks with the aid of overseas galleries and independent publishing companies. Zen Foto Books is an example; it was established in Tokyo in 2009, specializing in Asian photography with a particular emphasis on China. They successively published photo-books for several Chinese photographers, including Lin Shu’s Toxic and Zhang Yuming’s The Ancient Tower. Didier Quarroz from Switzerland founded Sandmeier Press in Zurich in 2011, and soon afterwards he moved to Shanghai to cooperate with active local photographers and publish photobooks. Meanwhile, independent publishing companies that emerged in China, such as Banana Fish, Gooooodies and Jia Za Zhi Press, are constantly discovering distinctive Chinese photographers and helping them with photobooks publishing. In addition, some photographers choose to express their ideas by means of handmade books. Zhu Lanqing is a youngish photographer born in 1991, and she attained Three Shadow Photography Awards with A Journey in Reverse Direction, a sophisticatedly complied handmade book.
50 Contemporary Photobooks from China is aimed at collectively presenting the photo-books created by Chinese photographers from 2009 to 2014 to audience in the UK and the Europe. Photographers that attend the exhibition are from all parts of China and living in different cities in the world, and thus they have a diversity of academic and professional backgrounds. Some of the artists graduated from domestic universities and have experiences as a journalistic photographer; some others were born in the 1990s and went to the Europe or America for photographic education soon after they graduated from high school. Most of the 50 photobooks at the exhibition are produced by independent publishing companies, among which there are photobooks that the photographers print through companies like Blurb or local printing houses; also, there are quite many handmade by the photographers. The works gathered in the 50 photobooks have covered nearly all genres of contemporary photography, including portraits, landscape, fashion, documentary, conceptual and so forth. Albeit these photobooks are not all produced in China, the subject matters centre on the contemporary discourses of China without exception. Photography has long been deemed as the evidence of recording the reality, and the photo-books keep such evidence permanently. 50 Contemporary Photobooks from China is trying to present the lateral of Chinese contemporary photography by virtue of “evidence�, the theme of FORMAT Festival 2015. It is designed as an integral exhibition that showcases photobooks, selected photography and multimedia works. 50 Contemporary Photobooks from China is more than an exhibition that reports the gradations of Chinese photography; moreover, I hope to spark a series of discussions via the exhibition. It is trying to examine the historical, social and visual discourses of Chinese independent photobook publication industry by exploring the interrelationships of photographers, publishers,
By looking into the current trend of independent and self-publishing photobook movement in China, we can address the following questions: How did the independent photobook trend start in China? What is the social and cultural background behind the industry? How does small presses like Jiazazhi Press shape the business of contemporary photobook in China? What are the roles of the photography galleries and art schools in response to such trend? During the process of preparing the proposal, I received great supports from many photographers and publishers. I wish to assemble the youthful forces of Chinese photography through this opportunity and create an exhibition of the international standards. In addition, I plan to print a catalogue of the exhibition for selling on the site. The list of the 50 photobooks to be exhibited is almost confirmed, and the outline includes materials of 30 photobooks therein for the judges to review. Further, subsequent to the FORMAT International Photography Festival 2015, 50 Contemporary Photobooks from China will be on itinerant exhibitions in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities in China.
Hao Xu 217 Strangers in My Family Album 1962-1986 * Book Design by Hao Xu 240 pages 28 x 21 x 3.5 cm (box) 27.3 x 20.6 x 3 cm (book) 231 photographs Hardcover in Box Limited edition of 10 Handmade by Hao Xu in 2014
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Hao Xu 217 Strangers in my Family Album 1962-1986 In the summer of 2013 I found photographs, covered with mildew and scratches in my grandmother's chest of drawers in a wet abandoned village house. After carefully cleaning the photos, with the flatbed scanner, various details have emerged. There are striking similarities in all of the group portraits. The title of each photograph found presents the traces which commemorate history and friendships of the past: "Friendship Memorial 1962. 3", "Friendship Memorial for Fu Tianshun 1962. 5,“Friendship Memorial for Qiu Gaijing 1968.10”,“Party Members in Taiyuan Iron and Steel Company Fundamental Construction Headquarters Hospital in the Communist Party of China 1972.2”, “The Fifth Graduation in Qianhan Village School 1976.6”,“Friendship Memorial for Comrade Xu Zhenkun 1972.4” and ”Graduation Memorial in Qianhan Village school 1986.4”. By cropping out the individual faces from the group portrait,details are amplified and tiny details blown up. Between the separated left-right folios, a gap generated, it seems to have a complete break flood intermediately.
Ju Lan Ching A Journey In Reverse Direction These Photo was taken in my hometown Dongshan Island, an island located in the southern of Zhangzhou, Fujian Province. Unstoppable urban development let people get amnesia, because they often forget what exists here before. I can only catch up with its pace, with the camera to “fight” the changes in hometown. My hometown influence me and shape me from birth. As the beginning of the book, I was dressed in a clothes from grandparents which is found in my grandmother’s room. The effect seems to be a mutual process between my hometown and myself. What I have seen is what it wish I could see. Shooting hometown seems like a journey in reverse direction, leading to the dark memories and our original heart. Ju lan Ching A Journey In Reverse Direction In my work, I use Bachimen, home, Food, * Hand made photobook Land, God, sea as the clue to reconstruct my _ hometown and put these fragments that I collected from my hometown into a book As to Zhu Langqin's work it was for me which can be read or showed. In this form, personally not only a well-balanced reflection on these spaces, people and objects can condense her hometown on how to use several expression on the paper. Through covering and unfolding forms of photography. While being a reflection the pages, it starts to reveal the meaning of on the past and the present it avoided my hometown to me.The final work self-centered sentimentalism and came across presentation will combine handbook with as a general statement of what photography can mean to all of us when we use it as a enlarged size single photograph and objects, reflection on change in our visual environment. sounds collected from my hometown. It’s a That this was a Chinese environment is at the section of our hometown which is drifting same time essential because of her being away in the urban developing. It will give us a Chinese and accidental as such relationships to chance to stop to touch our hometown and home environments are general experiences. reflect on what is the meaning of home. ―― Canida Hofer
Han Shuo Amusement Park * Review by Yining He Design by Han Shuo Wood Box, collectable photographs 21 x 16 x 4 cm (wood box), 16 x 10.6 (photographs) Giclee Print
Han Shuo Amusement Park The threads of debate about photography’s relationship to painting that began in the nineteenth century. Over the course of the history, photography has always been regarded as a special status for truthfully recording the world. Nevertheless, according to Erin C. Garcia, “Since its inception in 1839, artists have explored photography’s vast creative potential, which included the capacity to convey deliberately crafted ‘untruths’.” The question of staged photography is connected to other narrative forms like films, which the contents of the images are assembled and staged —— the special way in which the photographs are made. Begins on April 2012, photographer Han Shuo embarked on a series of photographs shot near Casa de Campo during his study at Madrid. Amusement park brings out a joy side to this entertainment capital of Europe. In the photo series Han constantly maintains a distance between the park and himself. He have spent a hundred of times in that forest and isolated himself from the others, and it is thus appropriate that he lets a character in his photo give words to his emotion. Through his lens, one has the sense of being a singular witness to the amusement park of surrealistic, restless and mystery. The images are carefully staged and terrifically alive, viscerally bring us into the crush of masked intruder dazed and wandering, and tying themselves in fishnet. Last photograph of the pilot gives us a sense of hope and expectation, which is either unrealistic or surreal.
Han is a graduate whose sensitivity and dedication to experimentation has driven him to further pursue his career as an art photographer. His practice in photo narrative is to “draws the viewer in through photographic beauty, through it’s content and though some kind of ambiguity.”
Mu Ge Ash * Book layout/design by Amanda Lo. Ling-ning 21.7 x 27.3 x 1.5 cm 41 photographs reproductions, with text Hard Cover Limited edition of 500 Published by Mark Pearson, Zen Foto Gallery 2013
Mu Ge Ash ASH refers to the ashes of death: “In the cycle of life, one goes back to where one came from, all souls return to their creator.” Year 2009 marked the fifth year of my project “Going Home”, yet the number of pictures that I took in the Three Gorges region gradually declined. Practical reasons made it impossible for me to face the silent and forbearing local people any longer, and so I returned to my hometown to ponder on how to continue my work. Slowing down to give more time for reflection, I took on an old view camera. The change was initially intended to capture how individuals look in reality. I discovered that the countenances and expression from the eyes are filled with the contradictory facets of both hope and helplessness. May 2010, my daughter was born. From then on my perception of life changed. I began to explore the world through the eyes of a child. Curiosity is the starting point of how children view and interact with the world; the things around them are of the greatest interest. Thus emerged the concept for the photo series “Still Objects”. For example, metal wires in a vase. When the light imprints on the wall the shadow of the vase filled with twisted metal wires, the image is beautiful, but at the same time brutal. Since then I’ve slowly begun to observe every aspect of daily life and to love this world instead of ridiculing it.When I used the view camera to re-understand my hometown as it is now, I’ve discovered that all things in the real world derive from our internal desire: the karma cycle of yearning for nature, destroying nature, and mending nature.Hence, I’ve gone to nature to look for the three unchangeable elements – mountain, water, and stone – to observe the traces of time and history and restored to nature its very essence: solemn, respectful, and mysterious...
Chen Zhe Bees * 82 pages 8.3 x 11 " / 21 x 28 cm 57 photographs Munken Pure Paper Clothbound Hardcover First edition of 500 Printed in Shanghai Co-published by Chen Zhe and Beaugeste Gallery
Chen Zhe Bees … if hurt, they breathe Venom into their bite, cleave to the veins And let the sting lie buried and leave their lives Behind them in the wound - Virgil, The Georgics Bees features a collection of people who, faced with chaos, violence, alienation and irredeemable losses in life, feel propelled to leave physical traces and markings on their bodies in order to testify and preserve a pure and sensitive mind from within. The project compromises 90 photographs and 40 journals & letters exchanged between Zhe Chen and her subjects in the duration of two years. _ Chen’s winning project is a document of self-mortification among a community of disaffected Chinese. The difficult nature of her subject is made more complex by Chen’s lyrical approach, identifying the physical self-destruction of her subjects as an act of spiritual cleansing. - Inge Morath Foundation, 2011 Chen Zhe. Brought up in Beijing, China, Zhe Chen is a photo-based artist currently living in Los Angeles and southern China. Over the past five years, Zhe has created a series of projects focusing on body modification, human hair, identity confusion, post-traumatic stress disorder, and memory. Chen’s latest project, titled Bees, is a document of self-mortification among a community of disaffected Chinese. The difficult nature of her subject is made more complex by Chen’s lyrical approach, identifying the physical self-destruction of her subjects as an act of spiritual cleansing. - 2011 Inge Morath Award Winner Announcement.
Huang Dongli Beyond the Surface * 57 pages 19 x 25.5 x 1.4 cm 44 photographs clothbound hardcover handmade by Huang Dongli in May, 2014
Huang Dongli Beyond the Surface In an infinite universe, the connections between things are universal but elusive. Memory and reality stacked, truth and fiction interweaved. I was fascinated by the surroundings and the curiosity about the reality enlightens my interest to take a second look at the objects and rethink about the things. The project shows a kind of non-linear narrative documentary which bases on my way of observing the objects. It explores the question what to find beyond the surface and the connection between what I have seen and what’s in my mind. The series “Beyond The Surface” is a handmade book, in which presents the subtle strangeness hidden behind everyday reality. The freedom of editing is like memory, repeat or jump.
Zhu Mo Bright, Bright Day * 44 pages 25 x 34 x 1 cm 57 photographs, Clothbound Hardcover Limited Edition of 500 Published by Jiazazhi Press Published in May 2014
Zhu Mo Bright, Bright Days Zhu Mo’s “Bright, Bright Day” series was selected in the 2012 Three Shadows Photography Award and attended the First Beijing Photo Biennial. We chose large format for this photobook after trying many possibilities to make the papers as walls and the book as a space, bringing a subtle oriental feeling like Yūgen in each picture and between spreads. The English name of this photobook was quoted from the Polaroid book of Zhu Mo’s favorite Russian filmmaker Tarkovsky (and his film The Mirror‘s original script had the same title). The series trys to convey the same power from lights in darkness. The series also reminds me of a haiku poem in Akira Kurosawa’s memorial Something Like an Autobiography: “The quiet water from the source, became rip currents, at the falls from the high”. Zhu Mo (born in 1984 in Changsha) is a young Chinese artist living and working in Beijing.
Shen Wei Chinese Sentiment * Edited by Lesley A. Martin 124 pages 9 x 12.25 " 75 photographs Casebound in Japanese saifu cloth with French fold dust jacket Limited Edition of 750 Published by Charles Lane Press
Shen Wei Chinese Sentiment In recent years, China has proffered tantalizingly fertile landscapes to photographers exploring the socioeconomic impact of its arrival as a superpower. Such projects typically hew closely to well-established narratives, revealing an obvious truth: that China is undergoing a radical wave of transformational change. In his first monograph, Chinese Sentiment, Shen Wei has performed a radical act in its own right by sidestepping all such cliche. Instead, he presents a vision of his homeland that peers deep beneath the surface, plumbing the psychological shades of gray, and finding a nation ambivalent to its perpetual state of suspension between past and future. Running counter to virtually every Western interpretation, Shen Wei reveals the human scale of China: a lone figure observed through the trees; the stolen glance of a young girl; a moment of repose in the bedroom. With nuanced observation and a serene visual style marked with wit and compassion, the seventy-five images in Chinese Sentimentrender a complex portrait of modern China. Employing the language of photography in a manner both dreamlike and cinematic in scope, Chinese Sentiment gracefully limns the interior life of a nation in the throes of epic change. The introduction is by Peter Hessler, staff writer and former Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker. Hessler is the author of three books on China, including Country Driving, A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory (Harper, 2010). Chinese Sentiment was guest-edited by Lesley A. Martin, publisher of the Aperture Foundation book program.
Zhang Xiao Coastline * 192 pages 21.5 x 28 x 2.2 cm 118 photographs Clothbound Hardcover Limited edition of 600, all numbered Published by Jiazazhi Press Published in August, 2014
Zhang Xiao Coastline Zhang Xiao started his journey from 2009-2013 along the coastline of China. China has long coastline which from the mouth of Yalu river in Liaoning province in the northern to the mouth of Beilun river in Guangxi province in the southern. Totally, it is continuous eighteen thousands kilometers. There are great changes every day in China since it began opening up 30 years ago. The cities are like big construction sites speeding their construction pace to catch up with the rest of the world. All of this appears particularly outstanding in China's coastal areas. A multitude of countrymen leave their native place to go there. Urbanization drive continually accelerate growth while people’s spiritual life stay. In China, every year hundreds of millions of people find work in other places. During the Spring Festival, hundreds of millions of people return home during a very short time, so the whole family can be reunited. They come from everywhere, North to South, East to West. People often lose their way during this process, losing the feeling of a real home. Lacking a sense of belonging, perhaps this is a symptom of being Chinese during this time.
Yuan Xiaopeng
Yuan Xiaopeng Free Park * Reviewed by Yining He Newspaper:52 pages 29.7 x 42 cm Free Exhibition Instruction:16 pages 14 x 21 cm Published by Same Studio Published in Shanghai, China. 2013
Free Park As Claire Roberts mentioned in her latest book Photography and China: “many practitioners of ‘personal photography’ work for magazines and newspapers by day and create their own highly personal images at night, participating across the spectrum of a new, image-rich culture.” One of these photographers is Shanghai-based photographer Yuan Xiaopeng. Yuan Xiaopeng (b. 1987) is a young photographer and illustrator who currently work for a weekly newspaper in Shanghai. He is a member of Same Studio along with Beijing-based Wang Yijun. Same Studio is an artist collective that collects and share interesting books across the world. Free Park is Yuan’s first solo-published piece, which is presented alongside a quirky exhibition that lasted only 2 hours. The body of work showcases the photography and illustrations of Yuan Xiaopeng during his stay in Shanghai from 2010 to 2013. Shot in Shanghai, Free Park is a pleasurable jaunt into the essence of the time and place, from in and around his rented flat to the local market. Wang Lijun, another member of Same Studio contributed to the typography and design. Each photograph in the newspaper is presented like a fragment of a larger picture, creating a fragmented yet still coherent perception of the photographer’s life in the metropolitan city. Free Park also includes a fun pamphlet, entitled “Free Exhibition,” about a fake installation exhibition.
Xu Hao From Yellow to Blue * Designed by Xu Hao 22 x 28 cm First Edition of 20 Published by Text Only Printed by Blub UK IN July, 2014 ISBN 978-1-32-006791-1
Xu Hao From Yellow to Blue Hao Xu (b.1987, Xuchang, China and based in London) is a graduate of the MFA Photography course at the University for the Creative Arts, Farnham. Hao has exhibited and publushed work internationally. In the last year, he has participated in group exhibitions at the James Hockey & Foyer Galleries, Crypt Gallery, The Art Fund Prize Gallery and Central Saint Martins in the United Kingdom as well as Photo Shanghai art fair. The artist has participated in artist residencies both in Russia and India. Reviews, interviews and portfolio features have appeared in Fotografia Magazine, Art Photo Magazine and World Photography Organisation online.
Muge Going Home * Book design by Lina Liu, Yan You 112 pages 21.5 x 27.6 x 1.9 cm 57 photographs Clothbound Hardcover, dust jacket Limited edition of 600 Published by Jiazazhi Press Published in December, 2013 ISBN: 978-988-12631-2-4
Muge Going Home Two years ago while I was planning to contribute an article for Art Bank, which introduce Chinese photographers who took their hometown as the theme. Through a friend’s recommendation, I started to get to know about Muge’s set of work called ‘Going Home’. The photographic language his work gives out deeply touched me. In 2014, Going home was published by JiaZazhi Press and came back into the sight of the audience. Going Home is Muge’s photographic work from his route home, also around the cities and villages near Three Gorges Dam. In this piece of work, everyone, including a single woman, a single man, couples even an object, has a quiet but enormous power. _ Muge’s work titled Going Home is perhaps the most autobiographical series. Muge has an unique point of view. Unlike the hundreds of western photographers who have tried to represent the region, Muge drifts through the city and countryside mapping people and place, he can relate directly to the dislocated people of the Three Gorges region along the banks of the Yangtze River, because it is where he has spent all his life. Chinese people respond differently to a westerner with a camera but Muge can pass unnoticed or at least his presence does not cause a local reaction. He is able to look people in the eye on literally level terms, in so many ways he is part of the people he represents. - Louise Clements, Art Director of FORMAT Photography Festival
Yuan Xiaopeng I'll send you a girlfriend someday As many young chinese Xiaopeng is seeing his family sometimes only once a year. During the last 4 years when he was travelling back he was taking photos of his family. He is documenting and trying to preserve personal moments, aspects of life, even values the family had that will vanish with time and specially with fast changing chinese society. I myself, living far away from home, can understand the need to preserve things that I would wish not to change, but returning home, sometimes the simplest habits that were so important to me disappeared. And of course also my grandmother is asking me each time: Do you have a girlfriend now? Yuan Xiaopeng I'll Send You a Girlfriend Someday * Bookcover design by Jeremy Schorderet 48 pages 33 x 34 cm Offset Print Limited and numbers 300 Published by sndmr.com
Yuan Jie Karamay * Text by Ren Yue Book Designed by Qian Li 40 pages 17.6 25 cm Limited and numbered edition of 100 Published by Ofpix
Yuan Jie Karamay I decide to make my hometown Karamay as my subject because of its distinctiveness. To say it’s distinctive not only to point out that Karamay is a modern city with oil industry but also to emphasize its attraction distinct from the stereotyped Xinjiang. It’s arguably that the cityscape view is long absent in photography about Xinjiang. In public viewpoint, Xinjiang is about exotic expression of minority nationality or surreal landscape of heavenly view. While it’s ideal and pictorial, but not my reality and lack of inner sincerity. As an autochthon, it’s not my view of Xinjiang. The Karamay I live is as same as all other inland cities, has all similarities a city needs to face during the modernization. People live there are no longer unfamiliar to the problems such as urbanization, immigration, demolition, traffic jam and so on. So it brings an interesting phenomenon, the blend between a newly modernized city and traditional culture of minority nationality. To most of us, the knowledge of Uyghur still remains in the impression of the old city, Kashi, just like Chinese to most of the Westerns. Uyghur people not lead a life under grape trees. As a matter of fact, in The 3rd Evaluation Report On Index Of Relative Richness And Overall Development Of Prefectures, Karamay of Xinjiang ranked 2nd, only after Dongguan of Guangdong. This report made me even more interested in the people of Karamay, especially in their family lives...
Charlie Engman, Jeremy O'Sullivan, Ka Xiaoxi, Kan Li, Yuan Xiaopeng, Wang yijun and Xu Zhengdong Lifestyles * 68 pages 14 x 21 cm 62 photographys Edition of 200 Published by Same Studio Published in Shanghai, China. 2014
Lifestylies Lifestyles was a photography exhibition held by Same studio at Triple Major store in Shanghai early this year. The display of this exhibition is inspired by that specific venue. There have connections among photos, clothes and spaces. And the same titled zine “lifestyles� uses visuals as its language. It arranged photos from 7 young photographers both from China and abroad, using juxtaposed images which share similar sense of recessive humor or other common grounds together, to sum up popular photography themes such as deliberate naked, cars and headlights, metallic surface, gestures and so on. It also induces observation methods like diagonal composition, making objects graphics-alike, and get involved with digital technologies. Same studio tried to tell some compelling thoughts about photography and trends. Lifestyle is a word of media hype in order to stimulate consumption. It always misused by fashion media. Those photographers all tend to take pictures from the angles of their own living ways. However, these pictures are surprisingly similar in composition of a picture and focus points. Thus, it's hard to tell who took which picture. It's like everyone is chasing for a same kind of "hip" lifestyle. No specific credits are marked out in this zine. When reading those immature imageries shot by amateur photographers together, you will feel the blurring and sparkle of their exploratory stage both.
Chen Chiachieh /Chen Zhe / Fenk Zhang / Jia Rui / Ka Xiaoxi / Liu Nian /Luka Yang / Luo Yang / Mou Hoo / Qiu Yang / Ren Hang / Ricenz Liu ／ Sophie Chen / Xiong Xiaomo / Xu Zhengdong / Yuan Xiaopeng / Zhang Pingchuan Light Room * Forward by Maleonn 208 pages 21 x 28.3cm 154 photographs Antails Brisky 129g & Woodfree paper 85g Four colour offset print, hardcover Limited edition of 500 Published by Goooodie.com
Light Room Light Room is a debut photography book released by Goooodie.com, showcasing works by 17 young Chinese photographers. In our treacherous and grotesque age, these are the ones who have not been carried away. They still stick to traditional film cameras, and already come up with new plans for the next destination and next shoot with their last penny, even on the way to develop film rolls. As a matter of fact, cameras are their arms in the wrestling with the reality. None is able to fully represent the rising neo-photography in China, for that the youngsters will eventually fade away just like the rest, and lose their halo of being “fresh” or “young”. However, at this moment, traits which they boast, being tender, aggressive, or simply mild, are reflected in their works through different approaches, calm or rebellious. The upbringing and life experience of this generation have early declared their sensitivity deep down. In a broadened world, their voices hardly echo, and their youth is consumed. Therefore, via the collection, not only a premature doubt of self-awareness is subtly expressed, but also their dilemma of being isolate from and addict to life at the same time.
Zhang Lijie Midnight Tweedle * Book design by Zhang Lijie 124 pages 11.4 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches Published by Elephant & Castle Books; 1ST edition (2014) ISBN-13: 978-1630682187
Zhang Lijie Midnight Tweedle Through sequences of fragmental scenes, Midnight Tweedle explores the diversity of Chinese collective memory from a personal perspective. Either narrative or random, conscious or unconscious, those images seem potentially connected, coincidentally, which is the way that how memory works. Employs varies medium forms, from documentary photography, collage, poster to staged imagery, Midnight Tweedle aim to introspect human kind, especially the Chinese, and symbolize the dilemmas within the context of cultural and political history of China. Photographer/artist based in Beijing & London. ZHANG Lijie is currently working on a number of long-term projects, which include Midnight Tweedle, Atheism, and documentary projects such as "The Innocent: mentally disordered artists", "The Rare: rare diseases in Mainland China", "Sequelae of SARS", etc. Her work has been featured worldwide including New York Times-Lens, Newsweek, CHINA DAILY, etc. Additionally, she is involved in multiple exhibitions in New York, Guangzhou Photo Biennial, LianZhou International Photo Festival, and PingYao International Photography Festival.
No. 223 Lin Zhipeng (aka No.223) * 240 pages 166 photographs 7.25 x 10.5" Published by Revolution-Star Publishing & Creati, 2013
No. 223 Lin Zhipeng These are the immediate and natural status and looks in our lives. But we more than ever feel embarrassed. I am more into a simple, violent and immediate aesthetics that has a lot relation to life, I look for photography that can develop stories, although it still takes a lot of work to do, hope I can achieve that step by step.-------Lin Zhipeng Lin is a photographer and freelance writer based in Beijing. He constructed a blog entitled North Latitude 23 with millions views and posted his personal photographs and words on it. He has contributed to numerous creative and fashion magazines as editor and writer and has produced photo shoots for magazines such as Vice, S magazine, VISION, City Pictorial, etc and brands such as United Nude, Converse, Glaceau Vitamin Water, Bacardi, etc. He also produced video works such as SANSAR, SCENE, Xanthium, etc. In 2007 he published the independent fashion magazine project TOO and in 2005, 2006 and 2011 published three volumes of photography entitled My Private Broadway. In 2012 he published a personal zine entitled VERSATILE. His photography works were included in 3030:NEW PHOTOGRAPHY IN CHINA, Elephant, Back to Black & White, TELL MUM EVERYTHING IS OK, etc.
Sun Yanchu Obsessed * 64 pages with one poster in 57 × 86 cm 21 × 28 cm Limited edition of 500 Published by Jiazazhi Press in June, 2011
Sun Yanchu Obsessed Taking a cue from the absolute ordinariness of the mindset of Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama, Sun Yanchu’s obsession turns his gaze on details of the physical world that are so insignificant that most ordinary people would pass them by without a second thought. Not Sun Yanchu. Through the images that make up Obsessed, he takes the viewer into a grubby, slightly unpleasant and disturbing side of human existence which is far from the glamour of celebrity that is, today, almost everywhere we turn. And, in being slightly unpleasant and without any make up or cosmetic enhancement, we are both fascinated and repulsed by the vision he presents. If this is art, how should we reconcile this apparent lack of conventional aesthetics with the values we are taught make Art something that only artists can produce? And yet, if we look carefully at these images as a group, as here in the sixty or so works that make up Still Obsessed, it is clear that whilst appearing to use a camera to explore a common obsession amongst photographers with the bleaker aspects of human nature, of the environment we construct, and of the landscapes we ravage, Sun Yanchu manages to find some mystery in the world, and even fine threads to charm. Having perused the world that is invoked in Still Obsessed, viewers are moved-to pathos if not to sympathy, to empathy and not disgust. We are also pushed to wonder if it is not an act of seeking salvation with which Sun Yanchu is ultimately most obsessed. As long as Sun Yanchu remains so obsessed, the only answer we will find is in his photographs. ——Karen Smith
Taca Sui Odes * Introduction by Chris Mao Foreword by Haun Saussy Essay by John Tancock 105 pages 28.5 x 17.25 cm 108 photographs Hardcover, traditional album binding Limited edition of 700 Published by Chambers Fine Art
Taca Sui Odes The Book of Odes, China's earliest collection of poems, both marks the beginning of Chinese civilization and delineates certain core elements of Asian culture. My search for the broad mountains, flowing rivers, ruined walls and ancient paths of the Book of Odes felt much like a mysterious engagement with an absent partner. During the shoot, it was almost as if my emotions and artistic direction were under the influence of some unknown force. When I think back to before I started this project, after several months of textual and geographical research, I was alarmed to find myself falling into the vast artificial construct of annotations and commentaries built by generations of Confucian scholars. With the shadow of such cluttered and factitious interpretations still hanging over the Odes, the meaning of the original text has been misconstrued and concealed, and a distorted, so-called truth has been created. I believe that changing reality and the text, including historical annotations, continually influence each other. I ask, therefore, in this never-ending process of mutual transformation, what are the principal divergences from the original text, and what layers of meaning have been lost? In terms of my own personal experience, as the original text has long been separated from its concrete context, what is the necessity and basis for so-called poetic sentiments? I hope to build a stable artistic structure that corresponds on some level to the composition of the Book of Odes, but at the same time pushes the Ode's literary significance into a distant and unfamiliar world, bringing the work's amorphous and mystical concepts into reality, and by doing so, facilitates analysis of the Odes, which truly is an artistic model with limitless possibility.
You Li Pang Huang * Book designed by Zhi Jin 60 pages 28X28cm Limited edition of 1000 Published by Aura Studio in December, 2013
You Li Pang Huang This book was published to coincide with an exhibition held at Aura Gallery in Beijing. A selection of images was made from 2 series. Kashgar and Latitudes of Silence.This is a beautiful book. Cloth cover, case bound with a tipped in image. Embossed titles on the front cover and spine. I immediately fell in love with it. Both series in this book are great. ‘Kashgar’ is about change and how the people of the city must cope with it. Kashgar is the western most city of China. It was an important trading center since the time of the Silk Road linking China with Central Asia. Centuries have passed and the city still retains its old appearance. Reminiscent of older Islamic cities in Central Asia. However 85% of the city is now facing reconstruction. Will the natives be able to retain their cultural identities when judging eyes are peering down on them due to the redevelopment? This project was an effort to keep a memory of the past before it disappears into the future. ‘Latitudes of Silence’ was a more personal project rather than a documentation. From 2007 to 2009, You Li traveled near the Northern Chinese border in an attempt to deal with her own peace. The images may be an unrealistic view of Northern China but represent faded memories that linger in the back of Li’s mind. It was a period a rebellion and indecision. Li made her journey north to her home town in attempts to put her mind at ease. Allowing herself to accept her new life. I really enjoyed this book. It acts as a great introduction to a great photographer. I highly recommend you visit her website and see both series in their entirety. Really great work and I look forward to see more in the future. _ Reviewed by The New Frame Photobooks
Zhang Xiao Shanxi * Limited edition of 300 Published by Little Big Man, 2013
Zhang XIao Shanxi These photographs were taken in Shanxi Province in northwest China. They document old customs originating from pagan ritual practices. They are, in effect, a voodoo-esque form of totem worship. A number of these ancient customs still survive and remain some of the most important cultural practices during the Lunar New Year throughout most of Shanxi. It appears that the participants have created a dramatic and otherworldly stage-dressing in stunning costumes and exquisitely painting their faces to represent the identities of Gods otherwise long forgotten. When I first witnessed the participants line up and then parade around the village, I repeatedly kept asking myself whether I had literally stepped into some sort of wonderland. The scenes I gazed at were far too bizarre and illusionary to be connected to events in the real world. Compared with the monotony of their usual rural lives, everyone involved into these celebrations transformed into something quite extraordinary-appearing no longer as mere peasants, but as powerful Gods from ancient mythology.With every glimpse of the unfolding events, I saw an overwhelming sense of joy and happiness that saturated the atmosphere and I tried not to disturb this beautiful dream state I found myself in. I truly hoped that I would never wake up.'
Yuan Jianyong Small Economies * Texts by Yuan Jianyong 72 pages 23.5 x 21 cm 29 photographs Mohawk superfine paper 170g Hardcover Published by Hurtwood Press
Yuan Jianyong Small Economies Adam Smith posits in the “Wealth of Nations” that the British were ‘... a nation of shopkeepers’, and that phrase has since shaped part of the British national identity. However, traditional small economies are facing unprecedented pressure in contemporary society, with many town centres losing any individuality as multinational chains drive out local competition. Many would argue that this is a result of globalisation, as large, multinational corporations are able to undercut small business in regards to price, and many small shops run by families disappear when they are unable to compete. Despite this, small-personalised stores struggle on, contributing to the character of their streets and inspiring the loyalty and affection of their customers. The owners of those shops are working on the ‘front line’, inasmuch as they must know the needs and wants of their customers in order to provide the most appropriate services, whether this be through their smile and warm conversation or simply ordering a specific item that they want. The present cannot be fully appreciated without some understanding of the past - as with all things, we often don’t appreciate what we have got until it has gone. The personality and individuality of these small businesses serve as a stark contrast to the homogeneity of global brands. There are fourteen shops included in this project, all coming from a variety of markets. Through interviews with the owners, key questions were asked about their perceptions of the traditional economy, as described by Adam Smith, as opposed to the globalised economies of today. This project examines the relationships between small economies and the current British society, seeking to explore how those small economies survived in the new, globalised world.
Ren Hang Son and Bitch * 140 pages 21 x 28.5 cm 129 photographs Soft cover in clamshell box, Dust Jacket Published by Neurasthenia Published in October, 2013 ISBN：978-986-88864-1-4
Ren Hang Son and Bitch The fourth and most ambitious yet of Ren Hang’s self-published books presents new selections of the artist’s now-infamous photography, which explores in raw and often disturbing detail issues of gender, fetishism and sexuality. Part performance and part carefully posed floor show Ren’s confrontational and provocative works tread a delicate line between art and pornography in which friends and lovers are shown in explicit poses and fetishist contortions. Unsurprisingly his images have stirred controversy in China where they have faced criticism for being obscene and vulgar. Yet for all the criticism Ren Hang remains one of the most uncompromising and unflinching of China's new generation artists working today. Ren Hang (b.1987) is from Chang Chun City in Jilin province in northern China. From 2007 to 2010 he attended the Communications University of China in Beijing and while still a student founded the online magazine Moon. His photography has been shown at numerous exhibitions both in China and overseas including most recently New Photography Since 2009 at Wuhan Art Museum (2014), Farewell to Experience at the 2013 Lianzhou International Photography Festival, Fuck Off 2 (2013) at the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands and Remote Places, Close Spaces at Street Level Photoworks (2013) in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2010 he was a winner of the Terna 03 Contemporary Art Prize (2010) in Rome. He lives in Beijing.
Sun Xiyao The Miao * Essay by Sun Xiyao 114 pages Premium Paper, Matte finish Limited edition of 5 Published by Blub UK, 2013
Sun Xiyao The Miao Stone Gateway, a tiny forbidden corner among the mountains of South-West China, has gathered a group of pious Miao Christians up to now. Before 1904, without their script and land, the Miao were treated as slaves under the control of Nosu landlords. For hundreds of years, they were condemned as a useless race by others and lived in ‘The Slough of Despond’. This was until Samuel Pollard and ensuing British missionaries brought the Miao script (the Pollard Script) and Christianity to the Miao people. Christianity dispersed fears in their minds and removed some bad habits. Banquets arranged by churches replaced alcohol misuse, the worship of the masses replaced festival orgies and martial age was standardised. The Miao people began to embrace education, listening to sermons and singing hymns. After all these years, the Miao still live and stick to the faith in poor and hard circumstances. Christianity, to some extent, helps them find peace in their heart and spread love to others. Born in China in 1988, Xiyao Sun is a London based photographer who studied MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the University of the Arts London. Xiyao worked as a stylist when she graduated from BA Fine Art Photography at the China Academy of Art in 2010.
Yee Ling Tang The Story of Four Generations Yee Ling Tang connects in some fifty photographs the life of her grandparents in Hong Kong with that of her parents, herself, and her daughter, the fourth generation. The strong tie between past and present is reflected in the ritual ancestor worship. Yee Ling's work reveals a photographer who has succeeded in distilling her experiences in several cultures into a style all her own. Her perspective is not the sum of Hong Kong and the Netherlands It is a new view, an autonomous look at reality.
Yee Ling Tang The Story of Four Generations * 56 pages 9.5 x 13.5 inch Color and black & white illustrations throughout Published by Ipso Facto, 2011
Xu Xiaoxiao The Way to the Golden Mountain * 104 pages 22.5 x 21.5 cm 49 photographs Hard cover, linen bound with 3 different inserts Limited number of 600 Published by Sturm & Drang, 2014 ISBN 978-0-9848202-4-5
Xu Xiaoxiao The Way to the Golden Mountain In 1999, as a teenager, Xiaoxiao Xu moved from China to The Netherlands. Photography became her antidote to the isolation that she felt, a means for telling stories and making clear what it was that occupied her. In 2009 Xu started to photograph the city from which she and her parents had come for a series. Wenzhou is a large port city in the eastern province of Zhejiang, with a population of three million. She was overwhelmed by the combination of memories and contemporary experiences. She could identify with the city, but at the same time felt herself to be an outsider – just as she did in The Netherlands. This resulted in “The Way To The Golden Mountain”, a book that shows the city and surroundings as a personal and emotional experience.
Zhang Kechun The Yellow River * 120 pages 25 x 25 x 1.8 cm 55 photographs Clothbound Hardcover Limited number of 500 Published by Jiazazhi in June, 2014
Zhang Kechun The Yellow River "Carrying out this photograph project is because of the inspiration after reading the novel River of the North written by Zhang Chengzhi. Attracted by the powerful words in this novel, I decided to take a walk along the Yellow River to experience and feel the father-like broad and wide brought from this river, so that I could find the root of my soulďźŒ while along the way, the river from my mind was inundated by the stream of reality. The river, which once was full of legends, had gone and disappeared. That is kind of my profound pessimism. Nevertheless, as a vast country with a long history, its future is always bright. There is a descent in the matrix; there is her own nutrition to feed her babies; there is the power of creation to cultivate them strongly. The weak moaning finally will be drowned by the shout for joy. From this point of view, it seems, all shall be optimistic." Zhang Kechun, born in 1980 in Sichuan province, China. He won the National Geographic Picks Global Prize in 2008, was nominated by Three Shadow Photo Award in 2012, and nominated by Sony World Photography Awards in 2012 and 2013, nominated by the Prix HSBC Pour la Photographie 2014. He won the Arles Discovery Award 2014.
Taca Sui Trifles * 88 pages 19 x 29 cm 45 photographs Cardboard sleeve, including traditional album binding and single sheets Limited number of 500 Published by Jiazazhi Press in November, 2013
Taca Sui Trifles We experience an infinite number of instants in life. Like scattered dust and seeds, they are so negligible. Few people realize, but these trifles, these most trivial instants are in fact closest to life itself. They enclose beauty that is naked and simple, and embody power that enriches our souls. These photographs are like dust and seeds picked out and blown up by film, life itself constructs the entirety of their existence. Taca Sui was born in 1984 in Qingdao, China, currently resides New York and Beijing. He won Hey Hot Shot Award 2010, Top 20 Chinese Contemporary Young Photographer 2011, nominated by Foam Paul Huf Award 2012.