Research and Other Investigations from China

Girls’ Generation K-Pop Factory Girls for The New Yorker

Clipping from The New Yorker's Factory Girls article featuring Girls' Generation.

I am going to be playing catch up over the next month or two – lots of new work and clippings to share. These images are from an awesome article for The New Yorker delving into Korean pop music (aka K-pop). I flew down to Jakarta to witness a massive stadium concert featuring some of the biggest names in K-pop from S.M. Entertainment and take portraits of Girls’ Generation. The nine member group consists of Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun. It was easily one of my most stressful photographic experiences. The management closely grooms these girls for years and try to control their media presence very closely. They were suspicious of what The New Yorker would detail and didn’t provide me with any information on how to get into the stadium properly. I was lucky enough to find a sympathetic security guard who let me into the backstage area where I only had fifteen minutes to set up all my lighting gear and another fifteen minutes with Girls’ Generation to take the actual photographs. Luckily they had some nice pink satin backdrops that worked well with my ring flash. Girls’ Generation knew how to pose for the camera as well, of course. The New Yorker Photo Booth blog interviewed me about the shoot here. These are some of the hottest up-and-coming stars in K-pop.

Girls' Generation perform live in a Jakarta stadium for an S.M. Entertainment showcase of Korean pop.

Girls' Generation pose before their big stadium show in Jakarta

Plastered T-Shirts Fashion Shootout at Beijing World Park

Plastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - Taj Mahal

Over the past few years, I have obsessively explored and photographed theme parks all over China. These are some of my favorite places to investigate changing notions of leisure and other trappings of “modern” lifestyles now enjoyed by the country’s nouveau riche. I also fancy myself a bit of a fashion photographer, so I was most pleased when I was approached by Dominick Hill, a friend and famed founder of Plastered 8 T-Shirts, to shoot some photographs at the Beijing World Park alongside Ren Hang, an up-and-coming Chinese photographer with amazing model friends. The theme was ennui. The Beijing World Park is a most unique and amazing place – a shabbier northern cousin of the Windows on the World theme park in Shenzhen. Hundreds of small-scale models of famous monuments, buildings and natural wonders from around the world are spread over expansive grounds. It is a wonderful place to spend an odd afternoon. Here are some of the results.

Plastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - US Capital

Plastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - African Village

Plastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - Angkor WatPlastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - ManhattanPlastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - Cougar Statue

Plastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - Golden Gate BridgePlastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - The MallPlastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - Tower Bridge

Plastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - GizaPlastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - ColiseumPlastered 8 fashion shoot in Beijing World Park - Sculpture Park

2011 Strawberry Festival: Chinese Hipster Gathering and Related Controversy

The audience flips out for Miserable Faith the 2011 Strawberry Festival at the Tongzhou Canal Park outside of Beijing

You might be able to tell by now, but I am way behind on my posts. These shots were all taken during the second day of the 2011 Strawberry Festival on May 1. Whoops. Anyway, better late than never. The rise of the Chinese hipster brought much controversy this past year. There were naysayers calling them hacks and shallow followers, others too clueless to know where to look in the first place, while some dug deeper and provided taxonomies or even tracked Chinese überhipsters (trans-identity-meta-hipster-awesomeness). So, despite the general lack of irony and fixed-gear bikes in China, I still stand behind my previous assertions of the importance of this new wave of urban youth trying to stand out from the crowd and make it on there own. Identity in urban china is an ever-mutating beast, but there is no denying that people are trying to reach deeper and tap into more creative currents. Alternative lifestyles, especially in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu and Guangzhou are on the rise and need to be celebrated. Here are a few of those who are visually standing out for better or worse.

Hipsters and freaks rock out at the 2011 Strawberry Festival at the Tongzhou Canal Park outside of BeijingHipsters and freaks rock out at the 2011 Strawberry Festival at the Tongzhou Canal Park outside of BeijingHipsters and freaks rock out at the 2011 Strawberry Festival at the Tongzhou Canal Park outside of Beijing

Hipsters and freaks rock out at the 2011 Strawberry Festival at the Tongzhou Canal Park outside of BeijingHipsters and freaks rock out at the 2011 Strawberry Festival at the Tongzhou Canal Park outside of BeijingHipsters and freaks rock out at the 2011 Strawberry Festival at the Tongzhou Canal Park outside of Beijing

The audience waits for Hedgehog to come on stage at the 2011 Strawberry Festival at the Tongzhou Canal Park outside of Beijing

China Vogue Music Feature: Bringing Rock to the Masses

A portrait of Cui Jian/崔健 at D-22

Thanks to my new friend Alex Chao, who just arrived in Beijing to take over art direction at China Vogue, I was able to contribute for the first time to China Vogue this month. It was also a perfect match since the magazine was running a big music issue and decided to let me cue up on some of the old school rockers in China including Cui Jian/崔健 (the godfather of Chinese rock), Shen Lihui/沈黎辉 (general rocker and founder of Modern Sky) and Zhang Youdai/张有待 (the DJ who introduced rock to the masses). First of all, I was very excited to get a chance to shoot Cui Jian on the D-22 red wall. He really is a pillar in the history of Chinese rock and greatly influenced a whole generation of China with his anthem “Nothing to My Name” which became a rallying song for students in China during the 1980s. Although I might not be the biggest fan of some of Shen Lihui’s music, his importance as the founder of the Modern Sky music label and festival production company is undisputed. When other record companies refused to release his music in 1997, he went his own way and founded Modern Sky to support a new generation of Chinese rockers and then continued to take this music to larger audiences with the Modern Sky Music Festival and Strawberry Music Festival. Shen Lihui will undoubtably be a force in the future of alternative music in China for some time to come. Although I had never heard of Zhang Youdai before, he seems to be an instrumental character in the history of rock in China as well. He became a DJ and host on Beijing Music Radio back in 1993 and introduced a wide range of music to youth across China. He is a true shaker in China’s emerging entertainment market and is rocking out to an Eric Clapton LP in the China Vogue portrait. Mad respect.

A China Vogue clipping of Zhang Youdai/张有待

A China Vogue clipping of Cui Jian/崔健

A China Vogue clipping of Shen Lihui/沈黎辉

T-Franklin Birthday Looks

The new T-Franklin lookbook

I thought I would break up some of my hardcore music postings with a little bit of fashion. These photographs were all taken on my birthday in New York City for my good friend Ivan Pun’s T-Franklin clothing line. It was easily the best time I’ve had shooting in awhile. Sometimes I must exchange mosh pits for a flute of champagne. Anyway, this is just a smattering of some looks I enjoyed as well as more candid shots.

The new T-Franklin lookbook

Styling and clothes by T-FranklinStyling and clothes by T-FranklinStyling and clothes by T-Franklin

The new T-Franklin lookbook