honorable mention
Jian Gao united states
title
Red Fragments
I travelled through nine symbolic cities from the northeast to the extreme far west of China on my own in this over ten thousand mile journey. I focused on contemporary social issues during my trip such as the burgeoning tourism market- there is a rapidly increasing number of Chinese people who are eager to explore their country more than ever before. Real estate and construction are the main investment strategies of recent Chinese entrepreneurs, and at the same time it brings problems to the construction workers who cannot get paid immediately after they work, usually a few months later. The price of homes grows tremendously, and the gap between rich and poor becomes even larger. When I worked on my project in the Muslim community in Kashgar City, traditional Muslim houses were being demolished and Uighurs could not get enough money to purchase a new living space. It raised tension between Han Chinese and Uighurs.
Red not only refers to the Communist Party, but also traditional Chinese culture. Fragments refers to my photographic contents, they are not a specific narrative story, and can be regarded as fragments. I am trying to simply show those who are interested, what is going on in another corner of the world.
He dedicated himself for personal long-term documentary photography project. In 2012, he was mentored by VII Photo Agency photographer Ed Kashi and worked on a project- Red Fragments, travelled over ten thousand miles from northeast part of China to the extremely far west on his own in order to explore social issues that are caused by Chinese government policies and their environmental impacts. In May 2014, he got a break approval from Magnum office and went to Myanmar to pursue his another project, and this project is still ongoing.
He has been shortlisted on APA/Lucie Foundation Scholarship Awards, Royal Photographic Society. He is an alumnus of Eddie Adams Workshop XXVI. He was also nominated among 142 young photographers in the world by World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass 2014. His work has been exhibited at Municipal Museum, Malaga, Spain. World Affairs Council, San Francisco, US. DUMBO Arts Festival, New York, US. PDN PhotoPlus International Conference+Expo, New York, US. “In the Zone”, Los Angeles, US. ONWARD Compé ‘14 Summit, Philadelphia, US. RPS 157, London, UK. The Palace of Fine Art, San Francisco, US. The Cannery, San Francisco, US. His work got published and featured by many industry top magazines and publications such as, National Geographic, PDN, AI-AP 30, ISP Magazine, NYPH Journal, Communication Arts, Doc! Magazine, L’ Oeil de la Photographie, Fotovisura(twice), Rangefinder Magazine, etc.
Jian is an avid traveller and aesthetic hunter, and he is eager to explore our world and culture through a pair of cold eyes and to experience our lives with a warm heart and unceasing footsteps.
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entry description
Red Fragments is a long-term documentary photography project I did last year that shows Chinese culture and Chinese living conditions in several symbolic Chinese cities through a personal visual journal. For the past two years, I have been travelling to cities like Shantou, Hong Kong, Kashgar, Beijing, and Shanghai to photograph life in the streets of mainly the first, second and third generation of Chinese families. My goal was to capture the values, traditions and rituals of Chinese culture in these cities to mirror the reality that China is going through a transition.I travelled through nine symbolic cities from the northeast to the extreme far west of China on my own in this over ten thousand mile journey. I focused on contemporary social issues during my trip such as the burgeoning tourism market- there is a rapidly increasing number of Chinese people who are eager to explore their country more than ever before. Real estate and construction are the main investment strategies of recent Chinese entrepreneurs, and at the same time it brings problems to the construction workers who cannot get paid immediately after they work, usually a few months later. The price of homes grows tremendously, and the gap between rich and poor becomes even larger. When I worked on my project in the Muslim community in Kashgar City, traditional Muslim houses were being demolished and Uighurs could not get enough money to purchase a new living space. It raised tension between Han Chinese and Uighurs.
Red not only refers to the Communist Party, but also traditional Chinese culture. Fragments refers to my photographic contents, they are not a specific narrative story, and can be regarded as fragments. I am trying to simply show those who are interested, what is going on in another corner of the world.
about the photographer
Jian Gao (b. 1987, PRC) is a social documentary photographer, Overseas Press Club Foundation scholar and currently a staff member at Magnum Photos in New York.He dedicated himself for personal long-term documentary photography project. In 2012, he was mentored by VII Photo Agency photographer Ed Kashi and worked on a project- Red Fragments, travelled over ten thousand miles from northeast part of China to the extremely far west on his own in order to explore social issues that are caused by Chinese government policies and their environmental impacts. In May 2014, he got a break approval from Magnum office and went to Myanmar to pursue his another project, and this project is still ongoing.
He has been shortlisted on APA/Lucie Foundation Scholarship Awards, Royal Photographic Society. He is an alumnus of Eddie Adams Workshop XXVI. He was also nominated among 142 young photographers in the world by World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass 2014. His work has been exhibited at Municipal Museum, Malaga, Spain. World Affairs Council, San Francisco, US. DUMBO Arts Festival, New York, US. PDN PhotoPlus International Conference+Expo, New York, US. “In the Zone”, Los Angeles, US. ONWARD Compé ‘14 Summit, Philadelphia, US. RPS 157, London, UK. The Palace of Fine Art, San Francisco, US. The Cannery, San Francisco, US. His work got published and featured by many industry top magazines and publications such as, National Geographic, PDN, AI-AP 30, ISP Magazine, NYPH Journal, Communication Arts, Doc! Magazine, L’ Oeil de la Photographie, Fotovisura(twice), Rangefinder Magazine, etc.
Jian is an avid traveller and aesthetic hunter, and he is eager to explore our world and culture through a pair of cold eyes and to experience our lives with a warm heart and unceasing footsteps.
back to gallery