China: Contrasts, Commonality and Transformation.

My photography project is called This is China: Contrasts, Commonality and Transformation. It involves combining my photographs of what I think as modern China and traditional old China. It is composed of four parts.

1) For my portraits, my goal is to photograph Chinese women wearing both traditional clothes such as qipao and modern Western style clothes. The one in which they wear traditional clothes will be photographed with old Chinese architecture as a background, and the one in which they wear modern clothes will be photographed with modern architecture as a background. These two pictures will then be displayed side by side, in sharp contrast with each other, the one with modern clothes will be made to look as if they were photographed a long time ago (shot with a film), and the one with the Chinese traditional clothes will be made to look very modern (look like it was captured digitally). Then a Transformation will be created gradually as their looks change from old to new and vise versa.

2) Another part is also to do a series of portraits of Expats living in China. It will be in black and white so as to make each one shares a commonality through shades rather than making a distinction with the use of color, therefore, bridging the gap between different races. There will also be a QR code right next to each portrait, which can be scanned with your phone. This will then give you a link to a sound file that will play my interview with that person about their experience in China.

3) In addition, I will also do a series of photography essays that will showcase both Modern and Old China and the contrast between the two. This includes my photographs of Chinatowns in the US and abroad. Having travelled all over Asia, I've been stopping by every city's Chinatown to capture images and videos in those places. With plans to go to Europe, I will do the same thing over there too. This will then be displayed along with the images I have photographed here in China. This is to show both the contrast and maybe the similarities between the two. I will also apply the same looks as the first part of my project.

4) Finally the last part is more of my own artistic vision of China. This can be more conceptual and abstract. This will be more against the norm of how most Western photographers usually photograph China. The photographs will look as if they could have been taken somewhere else rather than in China, but at the same time, there will be a little hint that they were taken in China.

If you are interested in supporting this long term project, please follow/subscribe to/like all or some of my Social Media Channels. Links are right below and make sure to share my work with your family and friends. You can also support this project and my projects through Patreon. Thanks, and I really appreciate your help.