Framing China's Uneven Urban Landscape: An Interview with Chen Ronghui
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Chen Ronghui (b.1989) is a Chinese photographer based in Shanghai. His work focuses on China's urbanization and de/industrialization, particularly the issues arising from the position of the individual within their shifting urban environment. While China's drastic urbanization since its 1980s’ economic reform has been examined by various photographers, Chen's “urban landscape” trilogy, completed over the past decade, offers neither a panoramic view of China's urbanization nor close-ups of specific social and environmental issues; rather, it captures China's uneven development in three distinct locations and moments in time: chemical plants outside Hangzhou after an acid spill, Shanghai after the opening of the first Disneyland in mainland China, and the shrinking cities in the northeastern Rust Belt. In this interview, Chen speaks on his transition from photojournalism to art photography, specifically his experiment with large-format photography, as well as the conundrum of depicting social issues while exploring photography as a universal language.
Source: Trans Asia Photography
Author: Dorothee Xiaolong Hou
Language: English
Topic: Photographic and Visual Arts
Subfield: Museology
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4390902083