A Glimpse of the World

Disappearing Shanghai

May 15, 2008 10:55 PM

I’ve just come across this link to a picture from my Shanghai gallery show of February 2008. Thought it was worth sharing. This is a show of one of the two rooms where the images were displayed. The other room, which can’t be seen here, contained much larger prints from medium format (Rolleiflex) photographs.

Click to read more

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Featured Writing

In Departure, China Invites Outside Help

May 16, 2008 5:37 PM

By HOWARD W. FRENCH and EDWARD WONG
Published: May 16, 2008

MIANYANG, China — With the death toll from this week’s earthquake rising rapidly, China has departed from past diplomatic practice, seeking disaster relief experts and heavy equipment needed for rescue operations from neighbors it has long shunned as rivals or renegades.

Officials on Thursday asked a longtime rival, Japan, to send 60 earthquake rescue experts, the first such team China has accepted from a foreign country during the current crisis and one of the few official relief missions China has ever accepted from abroad. This week it also accepted help from at least three private relief teams from Taiwan, the self-governing island with which China has long had tense relations.

On Friday, access was extended to teams from Russia, South Korea and Singapore.

The decision to seek outside help reflects the fact that the search for survivors of Monday’s massive earthquake and the struggle to accommodate hundreds of thousands of displaced people from the mountainous region around the epicenter of the quake are too much for China to handle all alone, even after it mobilized 130,000 army soldiers, security forces and medics for relief work.

But the selective invitations to Japan and Taiwan — some foreign nations that have offered aid have so far been told that their services are not needed — may also show that China sees disaster relief as a tactical tool to improve ties with neighbors and soften its international image ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

China is struggling to provide humanitarian aid to the hundreds of thousands left homeless even as it tries to increase search-and-rescue efforts for 40,000 buried or missing people scattered across remote villages in the serpentine valleys of Sichuan Province.

Officials estimated Thursday that the death toll, now nearly 20,000, could rise to 50,000. Doctors say those who are alive but buried are running out of time.

In his first visit since the disaster, President Hu Jintao flew into Sichuan on Friday. He called for relief efforts to be stepped up and said rescue work had entered its “most crucial phase,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Many of the troops involved in rescue efforts appear to have little training in disaster relief and lack proper tools and equipment. On Thursday, in the devastated county seat of Beichuan, thousands of People’s Liberation Army soldiers stood around with little to do. Some languidly picked at the rubble with their hands, unequipped with power tools to drill or saw through debris.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who is being portrayed in the Chinese media as exercising minute-to-minute supervision of the effort, sent 100 more helicopters to ferry supplies and workers into areas inaccessible by road.

The government also issued a detailed request for equipment needed to clear mountain roads. The list included thousands of pieces of earth-moving equipment, mechanized hammers, shovels and cranes, as well as satellite communications technology.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday that China so far had received pledges of $100 million in international disaster aid and $10 million in relief materials.

The three Taiwanese groups invited to participate in relief operations are the Red Cross and two Buddhist organizations without government ties. One of the Buddhist groups, Tzu Chi, had been granted permission a while ago to do charity work on the mainland. Charter planes carrying relief supplies from Taiwan have also been allowed to fly directly to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. Because of their long history of political rivalry and tension, China and Taiwan do not have regular direct flights.

One Chinese relief official called the invitations to a relatively small number of overseas teams “rescue diplomacy.” China has been eager to secure international good will in what has so far been a trying diplomatic year for the country, with crises involving Tibet, human rights and pressure to reduce support for the Sudanese government.

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m97画廊荣幸地宣布摄影双个展 - A Solo Photo Show in Shanghai

February 15, 2008 8:07 PM

2 New Solo Photography Exhibitions:
Robert van der Hilst “Shanghai: 1990-1993” and
Howard W. French “Disappearing Shanghai”
Exhibition Dates: February 16 - March 21, 2008

Opening Reception: Saturday February 16, 5 - 8 pm

m97 Gallery is pleased to announce two new photography exhibitions: “Shanghai: 1990-1993” by Dutch photographer Robert van der Hilst and “Disappearing Shanghai” by American photographer Howard French. Both photographers use their different camera languages to present us a grand picture of the people and streets of Shanghai beginning with Robert’s color Kodachrome works in the early 1990s to the recent past, and five years of Howard French’s black-and-white documentary work in the alleyways of Shanghai. The exhibitions begin on February 16, 2008, and m97 Gallery will hold an opening reception for the artists on Saturday February 16th from 5pm to 8pm.

Robert van der Hilst’s early color work from “Shanghai: 1990-1993” captures the early roots of this large metropolis as it readies itself for the great thrust forward towards modernization. Bringing a strong sense of color and composition to his work in the streets of Shanghai, Robert’s color Kodachrome photographs, now viewed some 18 years later, bring a sense of historical reflection after the past two decades of breakneck development in China’s financial capital. His subjects and sceneries are at once both familiar and foreign to the viewer. The subtleties and textures of Robert’s works, as well as the overall appearance of the city and its people are captured by the Dutch photographer as he first encounters a city poised on the edge of a newfound greatness. First traveling to Shanghai in 1990 on assignment for Vogue Magazine to feature a reportage of the city, Robert became fascinated by his first encounter with China and later made a total of seven trips to Shanghai in the course of three years.

American photographer Howard French’s “Disappearing Shanghai” series, is an intimate journey through many of the forgotten lanes or Nong Tangs of Shanghai. Documenting the bustling back alleyways of the now highly-developed metropolis of Shanghai, Howard’s black-and-white photographs offer a contemplation and reflection on the fading architecture of the old lanes and the people living in the shadow of Shanghai’s modernization. As the Shanghai bureau chief for the New York Times, Howard has managed to capture intimate scenes of normal people and their lives in the old lanes of Shanghai whose days are clearly numbered. As quoted in the New York Times, Howard says “ Over and over again, I have been asked by the people of these neighborhoods what is my purpose in taking pictures of these lives? Am I trying to show a bad side of China? To make fun of poor people? I have no trouble answering, and my reply is effective more often than not because it is sincere. ‘I take pictures in your neighborhood because there is something very beautiful about the lifestyle you have,’ I say. ‘Things may not be perfect, but there is a very special kind of community you have, and soon places like this will all be gone.’”

Robert van der Hilst lives in Shanghai and Paris, and is currently working on a large-scale photography project titled “Chinese Interiors”. He has worked as a photographer in Europe, South Africa and North America and his monograph “The Cubans” was published in 2001.

Howard W. French is a senior journalist for the New York Times and has been Shanghai Bureau Chief for the Times since 2003. He has won “ the Publisher’s Award” seven times and currently lives in Shanghai where he is also at work on his first novel.

For additional photographs, interviews or other media queries, please contact m97 Gallery at: info@m97gallery.com or by phone: (+8621) 6266.1597. Tuesday-Sunday 10:30-18:30.

m97 画廊｜上海 摄影双个展：
罗伯特·凡德·休斯特《上海：1990－1993》与
傅好文《消失的上海》
展出日期：2008年 2月16日 – 3月21日

开幕仪式：2月16日星期六下午5点 – 8点

m97画廊荣幸地宣布摄影双个展：荷兰摄影师罗伯特·凡德·休斯特《上海：1990－1993》与美国摄影师及记者傅好文《消失的上海》即将开幕。罗伯特九十年代初拍摄的柯达彩色照片和傅好文最近五年的黑白纪实照片从不同角度为我们呈现出了上海在这两个时代的不同风情。本次展览将于2008年2月16日开始，开幕仪式定于2月16日星期六下午5点至8点，届时艺术家会莅临现场。

罗伯特·凡德·休斯特的早期彩色摄影作品《上海：1990－1993》展现了一个当时正摩拳擦掌准备朝着现代化大都市进程飞跃的上海。他的色彩和构图强烈的彩色照片让观众有机会在经过了十八年飞速发展后的今天欣赏到这座中国财经中心当年的历史样貌。荷兰摄影师与当时处于转型时期的上海的碰撞造就了这组细节与质地丰富，并且充分反映了当时的城市和人的生活形态的照片。那些曾几何时的人与风景立刻带给观众一种既熟悉且陌生的感觉。1990年罗伯特被巴黎《时尚》杂志派到上海来拍一组照片。那次旅程让他立刻迷上了中国。之后的三年里他曾七次返回拍摄。

美国摄影师傅好文的《消失的上海》系列是一段在被遗忘的弄堂中游走徘徊的私人旅程。他拍摄都市中的背角街道，深切关注着现代化进程阴影下的老街和生活于其中的人。身为《纽约时报》上海分社社长的傅好文捕捉了平凡人与时日无多的老房子之间的亲密关系。正如他在《纽约时报》中曾写到：“街坊里的人们曾多次问我，我拍摄他们的生活场景，目的是什么？是不是要显示中国的阴暗面？或嘲笑穷人？回答并不难，因为我的答复是真诚的，所以常常为人所接受。‘我在你们的街头拍照，是因为你们生活方式中一些美好的东西。’我说，‘任何事物也许都不十全十美，但这是一个极其特殊的地方，不用多久，这一切恐怕都会消失了。’”

罗伯特·凡德·休斯特生活在上海和巴黎。目前正在拍摄大型摄影作品“中国人家”系列。他曾在欧洲，南非，美洲等地从事摄影工作。1991年出版摄影图书“The Cubans”。

傅好文为《纽约时报》高级记者。自从2003年以来担任该报驻上海分社社长。曾七次荣获报业人士最高荣誉奖项“the Publisher’s Award”, 住于中国上海。目前正在上海创作一组人体艺术照片以及第一部小说。

如果您需要更多相关摄影作品，约见或者其他媒体需要，请联系m97画廊，请电邮至：info@m97gallery.com 或者电话至（＋8621）6266.1597. 开放时间：每天上午10:30 - 下午 18:30

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Show Time

February 1, 2008 12:10 PM

The details of my two shows featuring my Disappearing Shanghai work have finally come together after lots of intensive labor. The Shanghai invitation is copied below. A smaller version of the show opens at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum of Washington University, in St. Louis, on February 8, 2008. I’ll be visiting St. Louis early the following week to give a talk there.
Details can be found at: http://kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/exhibitions.html
Visitors to my other, all photography website, whose link is in the upper right hand corner of this page can get a sense of my work through the Disappearing Shanghai gallery posted there.

That website is in the midst of a badly needed redesign, but some of the images from my two shows can be found there nonetheless.

By the way, I have less than 200 copies remaining of the catalog from my October 2006 Berlin show of Disappearing Shanghai. It’s nicely printed, and the price is $20 plus handling, a virtual steal. Get them while you can!

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The Vacation is Over

January 7, 2008 3:12 PM

Happy New Year everyone.
I’ve endured an enforced absence from the web for a while due to unexpected complications in switching web hosts. That’s all happily behind me now, though, and I’ll be updating this site with new material steadily in the weeks ahead. I’ve just posted the majority of the pieces I’ve written for the Times and the IHT over the last few weeks to the Writings section, and will be adding fresh new material on a daily basis to the other sections, as well.
My documentary photography project Disappearing Shanghai, has reached maturity, and will be making its premiere in China with a show opening February 16 at gallery M97 in Shanghai, alongside the work of the well-known photographer, Robert van der Hilst.
A smaller collection of this work is also showing at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, at Washington University, in St. Louis, opening on January 29, 2008.
Click to visit the museum

Click to see Disappearing Shanghai
Click to visit M97
There are still 50-image catalogs available of an earlier version of my show, which premiered in October 2006, in Berlin, and they can be ordered through this site, or by contacting me directly at: globetrotter@howardwfrench.com.
While pulling together the definitive gallery version of Disappearing Shanghai, I’ve turned my photographic attentions in a totally new direction, and am building a portfolio of fine art nudes, which begin to make their appearance on my all-photography site howardwfrench.net as of today.
Click to see this gallery
If you have an interest in modeling, please contact me directly at globetrotter@howardwfrench.com.
There’s also a permanent link to my photography site in the upper right hand corner of this page.
Prints of the nudes as well as prints of my documentary work are available for sale through the link above.
Finally, there have been several publications of my work since I went offline. Newsweek Select featured it in late December, as did Shanghai’s “Hint” magazine. Stay tuned.

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Xinmin Weekly

November 25, 2007 12:50 PM

China’s Xinmin Weekly ran this article about my Shanghai photography in its 11/2-11/11/2007 edition. (Sorry for the late notice.)

Qiu Xiaolong, a native Shanghainese and celebrated author of Detective Chen novels, wrote an essay to accompany the images.

我感谢傅好文为留住上海历史和文化记忆所做的这一切努力，因为充满了”我们对这个城市和人民的共同热爱”。

撰稿／裘小龙摄影／傅好文

认识傅好文（ＨｏｗａｒｄＦｒｅｎｃｈ），是因为他对上海这个城市的”情结”。如他在一个电子邮件里所说的，这也是我们共同的”情结”，在我的小说和诗歌里，在他给《纽约时报》和《国际先驱论坛报》撰写的文章里。接着却有新的发现：他的上海激情不仅仅洋溢在文字里，也在摄影中。最近我在校看《红旗袍》的清样，与他说起，就像因为窗外一个偶然的意象，福克纳开始创作了《愤怒与喧嚣》，”文革”年间，因为父亲书柜里一张劫后余生的老照片，我在许多年后萌发了写这本书的冲动。他获悉后，立刻给我寄来了他许多关于上海的摄影作品。

我喜欢摄影，仅在业余意义上，他却是专业，作品曾多次获奖，去年在德国办过一个摄影展，名为”消失中的上海”，最近还要在上海办一个，也是有关这个城市的。我很难从专业的角度说什么，但他的作品给我带来一种诗意的震撼，就仿佛自己也给摄入进去，身临其境般地获得了全新的经验和观念。

从一种角度说，摄影有与诗歌相通的地方，都要在寻常的生活场景中发掘出不寻常的一瞬间。诚然，摄影者不可能像诗人那样直抒胸臆，只能通过镜头中的一切来激发读者（观众）相应的情感和思考。我们来看看傅好文的照片，标题《不再下注了》，下面一行短注说，”麻将间，经过了漫长一天。”作品呈现出一间相当拥挤，显然综合了厨房、客厅、饭厅功能的房间。居中一张麻将桌，仍乱摊着麻将牌，旁边是放烟灰缸的茶几；前面一张饭桌，还搁着一缸子菜；左侧叠放着冰箱、微波炉、茶壶，紧挨一张不再用来写字的写字桌；右侧竖着一架老式移动梯子，可以小心翼翼地爬上加搭出来的小阁楼，阁楼墙上悬挂日光灯、黑底白字的电钟，时针指着５点４７分。灯光洒在麻将桌上，成了整个画面的聚焦，恰到好处地与朦胧的前景与后景形成对照。打麻将的人都已离去了，桌上仅蹲着一只白猫。

这样的场景对打麻将的人来说，应属司空见惯。典型的一幕老里弄房子场景，再普通不过的市民生活方式。只是在摄影者对这个城市独特的观照角度中，在快门按下的”决定性一瞬间”，才发生意义。

我这样说，因为我就是在这种老房子中长大的。家里还要拥挤一些，房间的功能除了客厅、饭厅，更要加上卧室，只有一张桌子，要兼顾写字与吃饭。左邻右舍住房条件（甚至到现在）也都差不多，大伙儿挤在公用厨房、客堂，一起做饭、聊天，偶尔也会在过道里摆开餐桌、牌局。我还想到一个朋友，他家里也有这样一个加搭出来的阁楼。那还是在７０年代初，他给我钥匙，让我白天去他的阁楼，一个人躲在里面读书；真有好几个早晨，在爬上梯子前，我看到了就似乎是这张照片中的场景，唯一不同的是桌上摊着纸牌。这张照片使我感到亲切而又震动，倒又不仅仅因为怀旧。回想起来，还隐隐感到其中隐含的不同生活方式和价值。或许，因为空间局限而密切起来的人间关系，人们到处都能在生活中发现、享受欢乐的精神，条件艰难却依然生动的知足——用孔子的话来说，”居陋巷不改其乐”吧。这似乎也可以说是上海文化中正在消失的一种特色。

对于我来说，在傅好文众多的上海摄影作品里，正是脉动着城市的这种精神：夏日的傍晚，一家三口在路边用餐，椅子、凳子、竹躺椅，却没有餐桌，孩子光顾着瞅前面的稀奇玩意儿，不肯吃饭，母亲一边呵责，一边把碗端到他嘴边，父亲抽着烟，回过头来看一眼，都那么自在，就像在家里一样；一个废品回收者，踩着堆满杂货的三轮车，车前一大块牌子像黑板，写满要从街头巷尾回收的废品，慢吞吞驶过狭隘而拥挤不堪的小街，恰如闲庭信步；一个在街头修自行车的工人，没有生意上门，索性放倒塑料折椅，躺下身子，摊开报纸仰面阅读，让写满了磨难的额头埋在了新闻世界下……

关于这个城市，傅好文在柏林摄影展的序言中这样写道：”在上海，这些正迅速消失的居民区所最吸引我的地方，正是弥漫其中的亲密无间。这里，人们知道相互的名字，愿意停下步子来谈一谈生活的痛苦和欢乐、季节的变迁、世代的更替。老人和孩子受到大伙的照顾，人们在屋子外面吃饭，空气中混杂着上百家厨房的芳香。在街头，随时随地都会冒出小市场，可以买到各种各样好吃的东西。人们关爱地饲放鸽子，让中午的天空布满白色的翅膀。”

他写得诗意洋溢，还真让我想到周邦彦的名句：”雁背夕阳红欲暮。”当然，他清楚地意识到，尽管快速消失中的上海老城区充满了魅力，同时也充满了众多问题。他的视角决不是单一的。或许又是一种巧合吧，在美国生活了近２０年后，在那些有关上海的小说中，我自己也这样想象着。

这里我所想到的与他镜头中所摄到的，相对应关系或许并不一定那么直接、精确。用读者反应理论说，人们自身的经验各异，感受难免有差别。举个例子，照片的注说，”漫长的一天后”。我的第一个反应却是：”漫长的一夜后”。换句话说，是清晨五点三刻的场景。我老房子所在的里弄里，方城之战多在夜间展开，而且常通宵达旦。

不过再仔细看，他的注也可能是故意含混。麻将牌局夜以继日，打麻将的人一味沉溺其中，要说成漫长的一天自有反讽意。现代社会如此充满多样性和复杂性，摄影作品也不得不是多义性的。其中意象层层叠加，更丰富了内涵，诸多细节完全可以有不同的解释。

再看照片中的中心意象——麻将。我不会麻将，说不上好恶。然而，对那些憎恶麻将的人来说，会有什么样的感受呢？打麻将的人已不在，却仿佛更突出了存在，在一夜的激情与挥霍之后，如同”春潮带雨晚来急，野渡无人舟自横”的意境。在光的中心，静寂；仅有一只猫映衬着所有的输赢得失，背景中的幢幢阴影。

是的，使这一切静物生动起来的，是蹲在麻将桌上的白猫。这确实是神来之笔。如布列松所说的，摄影不能干涉拍摄的对象，无法像诗歌创作那样随意添加细节。这里，谁也都没有办法让一只猫蹲在桌子上静静面对镜头（尽管在作品构图、光影和角度的选择上，摄影者还是加入了自己的观念，多少介于王国维所说的”有我”与 “无我”之间）。这是摄影者与被摄影的物体中间相互发现的一瞬间，偶然性的捕捉，无法干涉或复制。猫俯身在一盘麻将残局上，俨然君临天下，神情神秘莫测，显得悠然，又有些慵懒，凝视着，批判着－－－－我们仿佛也突然融入了猫的视角，观照着这个城市的一幕独特场景。

关于他的摄影作品，傅好文在《纽约时报》中曾写道，”街坊里的人们曾多次问我，我拍摄他们的生活场景，目的是什么？是不是要显示中国的阴暗面？或嘲笑穷人？回答并不难，因为我的答复是真诚的，所以常常为人们接受。’我在你们的街头拍照，是因为你们生活方式中一些美好的东西。’我说，’任何事物也许都不十全十美，但这是一个极其特殊的地方，不用多久，这一切恐怕都会消失了。’”

在上海经历的巨大变迁中，傅好文所关注的，不是物质主义意义上的繁华竞逐，而是在城市重新发展过程中消逝的传统生活方式与价值，尤其涉及到社会的底层，这一切正在摩肩接踵的高楼群下黯然失色。他摄影作品的意象因此唤起我们身上相应的复杂感受，我们进而也获得看世界以及自己的新视角。

或许像卞之琳先生当年对我说的那样，要写诗歌评论，最好自己写诗。对于傅好文的摄影，我也只能作为一个非专业的爱好者，用自己较习惯的读诗方式写下一些感受。不过，在中国传统文学批评中，也有诗中有画，画中有诗的说法，所以也可以这样来说摄影吧，

作为在他摄影作品背景中生长起来的一个读者，我感谢傅好文为留住上海历史和文化记忆所做的这一切努力，因为充满了”我们对这个城市和人民的共同热爱”。（作者系旅美作家）

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Howard W. French (http://www.howardwfrench.com)