Polar Perspectives: Us vs. Them Photography Exhibition Descends on Beijing
Na Risong, director of Inter Art Gallery, and actor-cum-photographer Jonathan Kos-Read, have generated an exhibition of internet-sourced photography called Us-Them that traverses different views of modern China through the lens of Chinese and international artists. The collection was originally exhibited at the 2013 Pingyao International Photography Festival and due to its overwhelmingly positive reception, Inter Art Center in 798 decided to bring it to a new audience in Beijing.
Eighty images were collected from platforms such as Weibo, Facebook, Flickr, and other photography websites. Through assembling them together, they hoped to create a dialogue about whether Chinese and international photographers possess similar visions of contemporary China, and if not, how these photographers from different countries and cultures arrive at different understandings of a single society.
The most interesting and arguably most successful part of the exhibition is the role of the curators in determining what is relevant to the theme of Us-Them. As the photos existed before the concept, we are encouraged to uncover how these photos relate to each other. Their selections provide a unique insight on how East, West, old and new are each converging to develop a chaotic landscape, informed by all the tools of modernity, along with relics that were left behind and still shape the direction of the future.
Ultimately what might seem unusual or foreign to one photographer may appear perfectly natural to another and it’s the responsibility of the observer to determine it these cultural perspectives can be clearly observed through the viewpoints of the selected photographers.
Follow intergallery for upcoming exhibitions curated by Na Risong.
Remember that the Beijinger would also like to see your snapshots of summer across the capital – just add #thebeijinger to any of your Instagram shots and follow us @the_beijinger.
Photos: Courtesy of Intergallery
