vancouver fashion and portrait photography

Headin' Back to China to Photograph a Book About Shanghai

Posted May 31, 2009 by kk

Static Photography is heading to Shanghai , China next week to make photographs for a book we're working on with Christine Lu . The book will be a collage of the vibrant and alternative side of Shanghai's emerging new culture and will feature photography by Kris Krüg alongside the words of Christine and others. Published under Creative Commons license, the book titled ChinaMeme Vol. 1: Shanghai will be available online later year and the large hardcover print edition will be on hand in time for the World Expo Fair in Shanghai next year.

This collage of photography and stories will be presented with the title ChinaMeme vol.1 Shanghai. The fascination behind discovering the cultural pulse of a city like Shanghai is just that: in the discovery process. Shanghai sits as a city of innovation and the forward thinking of the future so it is a curious idea to ponder what the underground communities of such a city structure would look like and how they would interact or not interact with the city conglomerate. A meme is a cultural representation or idea that is propagated historically, either horizontally or vertically. There are cultural ideas that are being represented with China in a more open-sharing and open-living lifestyle than ever before. These stories, these ideas and the people living within them are rarely seen by the rest of the world.

A subtle example would be the lack of representation of an underground urban arts culture in a Chinese city. Such a culture might be able to find a voice in another city but how does one find such a voice in Shanghai when you are a street artist, a dj, or a hip-hop MC? Such a place does exist for the affiliated people of this community specifically; an example is seen in the Chinese based promotional company Split Works offering a contest to be the opening act of Wu-Tang Clan 's Ghostface Killah when

he performs two dates in China.

Great things are happening, ideas are spreading, communities are being developed around arts, culture, music, and technology. The people of Shanghai are finding identities past the numerical data that defines their city's definition. This has been going on for many years ever since the first cinematic movie was played in Shanghai. The personality of Shanghai is
creating a vision of an open China: a country that is involved with open-living, open-sharing and open-being.

The personality of a city can not be found in just a single face, nor its voice in a single sentence, nor spirit in a single community. The personality of a city is measured by the openness of its population, the actions that create their cultural and their artistic communities and by the strength of their voice when their presence is unknown.

In addition to exploring the main part of Shanghai and its communities, there will also be some really amazing events taking place in the city center while we are there. Christine Lu has helped organize a multi-country excursion called Geeks on a Plane. Traveling to Tokyo , Beijing and Shanghai , 32 confirmed attendees will be getting an in-depth orientation in international technology. Curated by Cilantro Media , this world city tour will last 10 ten days and include many events. Also the 12th

Shanghai International Film Festival will be taking the city by storm from June 13th- 21st. Christine has also helped organize a SIFF after party titled 'Geeks and Glamour '. Another exciting event will be the day-long TEDxShanghai conference. Kris is one of the first confirmed speakers at this event. We will definitely be shooting all of
these awesome events while in Shanghai.

kk's blog

Wonderful pictures you have

Submitted by Spyderco resilience (not verified) on Tue, 2012-05-15 18:29.

Wonderful pictures you have here. I love the abstractness of them!

reply

Wonderful pictures you have

Submitted by Spyderco resilience (not verified) on Tue, 2012-05-15 18:29.

Wonderful pictures you have here. I love the abstractness of them!

reply

Wonderful pictures you have

Submitted by Spyderco resilience (not verified) on Tue, 2012-05-15 18:28.

Wonderful pictures you have here. I love the abstractness of them!

reply

Wonderful pictures you have

Submitted by Spyderco resilience (not verified) on Tue, 2012-05-15 18:28.

Wonderful pictures you have here. I love the abstractness of them!

reply

Wonderful pictures you have

Submitted by Spyderco resilience (not verified) on Tue, 2012-05-15 18:28.

Wonderful pictures you have here. I love the abstractness of them!

reply