Apr 29, 2011 | Travel
Last month I visited Tianducheng outside of Hangzhou to continue work on my Counterfeit Paradises project (see Happy Magic Water Park, New South China Mall and Windows on the World). The French-themed residential development was absurd to say the least – a feature on it is forthcoming. The highlight of the trip for me, however, was not the knockoff Eiffel Tower surrounded by megablocks. I found something else. If you were not aware, you should know now: dinosaurs are AWESOME. I have loved them since I was kid which also coincided with my obsession with Calvin and Hobbes (see Tyrannosaurus Rex in F-14). While photographing the exceptional Roman Theatre in the village theme park attached to Tianducheng, I decided to check out the backstage. What did I eventually stumble upon? A fake dinosaur graveyard, obviously. I mean, what else could you expect from such a place? I subsequently freaked out for about an hour and took hundreds of photos of course. Enjoy…
Mar 30, 2011 | Counterfeit Paradises, Society
International vacations are a must for the burgeoning number of nouveau riche across China. A well-used passport is a sure sign of fulfilling a “modern” and “cultured” lifestyle and completes the trifecta of high social status along with ownership of multiple homes and foreign luxury cars. Even in the face of the global economic downturn, China continues to boast the fastest growing outbound tourism market in the world. In 2009, the average expenses paid by Chinese for international travel went up 21% and will continue to grow as more and more flex their purchasing muscle. In Shenzhen, however, a favorite travel destination remains the Windows on the World. A short subway ride from the city center, the park boasts over a hundred small-scale replicas of famous monuments and buildings from all over the world. Here Chinese can fantasize about visiting foreign countries and practice taking tourist photographs. This make-believe space is one of consumer indoctrination and a selling point for a notion of civility that will most likely prove as empty as other social movements in China’s past.
Feb 13, 2011 | Clippings
Two of my photo essays have been in wide circulation recently. Chongqing: The Biggest City You’ve Never Heard Of, after its initial release in Foreign Policy, went on to be published in Internazional, Foreign Policy Spain and Foreign Policy Arabic as pictured above. Happy Magic Water Park, one of my favorite photo essays from last year, also showed up in Geo France, Afar and D Magazine as pictured below. I have some new work coming out very soon, so stay tuned.
Sep 21, 2010 | Counterfeit Paradises, Society
The Water Cube on Beijing’s Olympic Green is easily one of the most enthralling aquatic centers on the planet. Its bubble-like exterior is almost as recognizable in China as the Mao portrait hanging above the Forbidden City. However, ever since Michael Phelps walked away with eight gold medals in 2008, the Beijing municipal government has struggled to make the complex a commercially viable venture and just recently placed all their hope in an incredibly ornate theme park. The “Happy Magic Water Cube, Beijing Water Cube Water Park,” now dominates the southern end of the structure and caters to an emerging urban elite who can afford the hefty entry price. The water park epitomizes the fantastical escapism so sought after by a burgeoning moneyed class in Beijing. Here one can slip into a state of reverie and forget about the smog-covered skies and endless traffic jams just outside the aqua-blue cellular membrane encasing the Happy Magic Water Park. It is the ultimate leisure playground in a country still coming to grips with profound social inequalities.
Jan 30, 2010 | Society
In another outlandish attempt to draw tourists and locals to the Olympic Green, the World Chocolate Wonderland theme park opened just north of the Bird’s Nest stadium to a mixture of awe and bewilderment. The strange assortment of exhibits and objects made of chocolate defies description. Ranging from individual showcases of the history of chocolate in countries famous for chocolate production, to an entire room of various chocolate reconstructions of household and consumer items, the focus and scope of the theme park is haphazard at best. Walking past the chocolate Terracotta Warriors, a Great Wall of Chocolate, and a life-size chocolate BMW, I couldn’t help but feel the theme park represented another exercise in postmodern irony. The visual feast was also picked up by the BBC and Salon. God knows what the Beijing municipal government will think of next to lure people up to the Olympic Green as they continue to struggle to support its grand infrastructure investments for the 2008 Olympic Games.
