West looks East : The incomplete picture

In the 70’s, many of the great photo works were shot in the United States. William Eggleston, Lewis Baltz, Robert Adams, Stephen Shore, Lee Friedlander travelled around, documenting the transformation of America’s urban landscape.
Recently (perhaps a sign of a long term shift in the balance of power), Asia has become a major playing field for photographers. There is no shortage of interesting series on the subject: Peter Bialobrzeski’s NeonTigers (with images shot as early as 2000, before the craze), Olivo Barbieri’s Notsofareast, Ed Burtynsky’s China, Nadav Kander’s Long River (Pictet Prize winner), Wassink&Lundgren’s Empty Bottles, Michael Wolf’s Architecture of Density.
Some are pure urban landscapes. In Neontigers, Bialobrzeski manages to show the mixture of traditional and contemporary patterns. Some also hint at social evolution. In Empty Bottles, Wassink&Lundgren show the flip side of China’s prosperity; while Burtynsky goes into mass production factories. All in all, they give a pretty good view of the deep changes experienced in Asia.

In all these works, however, West looks East. What about asian view on Asia, Chinese view on China ? I quite liked Sze Tsung Leong’s “History Images”, published by Steidl. But his author was born in Mexico and lives In New-York. That may be why my western eye found beauty in these objective urban landscapes.
Liu Heung Shing ranks among of the most famous Chinese photographers, but his images of “China after Mao” are too journalistic for my taste. I also had a look at Liu Zheng and Liu Xiaodong, without being struck.
Until now, the only work that really caught my attention is Zeng Li’s “China Chronicle”. The author has worked with film maker Zhang Yimou as stage designer, but in interviews, he states his “true love is photography”. Obviously, these feelings are shared : the oversize book, published in 2006, gives a powerful view of the changes impacting China’s architectural landscapes.

Of course, the list is incomplete. Please do not hesitate to leave a comment should you be aware of interesting works on China or Asia by local artists. It is more than probable that a significant part of these names still remains unknown to us.