Jul 20, 2011 | Art, Youth
I am back in New York for the next month starting my MFA Art Practice program at the School of Visual Arts, so excuse my delays in posting new material. After shooting Han Han for the New Yorker I was able to escape to Changsha to witness the Meeting of Styles graffiti gathering. Over a hundred graffiti artists from all over China congregated in the city that once witnessed Mao Zedong’s conversion to communism. Street art in China is still in a very nascent stage, so I was greatly impressed by the wide variety of styles on display smack in the middle of Changsha’s waterfront. Quite frankly I was a bit surprised the local powers that be even approved a graffiti event of this scale in the first place. The artwork ran for hundreds of meters, stretching out from either side of the Xiangjiang River No.1 Bridge – a major transportation artery in Hunan’s capital. The video below walks you through the core of the murals created during the Meeting of Styles. I met a ton of really interesting graffiti artists while in Changsha who I will be following up with individually across China.
Apr 24, 2011 | Architecture, Clippings
As many of you may know, I am a huge fan of the CCTV Tower in Beijing’s Central Business District. In my excitement that they finally turned on the lights in the soaring loop of a skyscraper, I scouted out locations and posted shots of it igniting the skyline. A few months later, as fortune would have it, I received an assignment to photograph Ole Scheeren, the former parter of Rem Koolhaas at OMA and mastermind behind the design and construction of the CCTV Tower. Basically I got to sneak around the new offices of Ole Scheeren in Jianwai Soho and then pose him in front of his awesome edifice. In the end, I used the same locations from the night shoot to photograph Ole Scheeren with the CCTV Tower. Unfortunately I was not allowed to photograph any models of his upcoming projects which were amazing. Ole himself was very affable during the shoot and is no stranger to the camera thanks to his high-profile, paparazzi-trailed relationship with actress Maggie Cheung. A looker and dresser, Ole made sure he was properly attired for the occasion and rocked a formidable Blue Steel. The clippings are from the article in the newly minted Port Magazine out of London.
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.
Nov 22, 2010 | Sports, Youth
I just had the pleasure of visiting the newly-minted Woodward Beijing skateboard and freestyle BMX park that opened its doors to China this summer. Although it is a pain in the ass to get down to the southern sixth ring road, Woodward Beijing truly is a state of the art facility and will hopefully nurture a new wave of talented skateboarders and freestyle BMX riders in China. These sports are just taking hold in cities and major brands like Vans, who sponsored the evening by driving down two busloads of kids for free, can only see rising interest amongst the growing pool of urban hipsters and punks around the country. Even though I didn’t get in on the action myself, I was greatly intrigued by the possibilities of the giant foam box pit that freestyle BMX riders used for practicing aerials. Next time I might find myself rocketing skyward on a bike. For now the only problem I can foresee is consistently getting kids that far outside the city to partake in everything Woodward Beijing has to offer. On the up side, large-scale summer camps are being planned which is the real bread and butter for Woodward in other locations around the world.
Oct 19, 2010 | Development
The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) is a marvel to behold. Rising above the equally impressive Jin Mao Tower, its graceful arches reach 101 stories, the second-tallest building in the world. The SWFC also ranks as number one for the highest occupied floor in the world, beating out the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and sports the world’s tallest observation deck. The Observatory Bridge runs along the top of the trapezoidal opening near the apex of the SWFC and offers generous views of Shanghai on all sides. During my trip earlier this month, I picked a particularly clear day to visit. The light hitting the Pudong side was the best and offered uninhibited views of the vast urban sprawl that now characterizes the edges of Shanghai.
