Late Spring II (2022)

“Late Spring” is a series of black and white negative prints of Wuhan plants from when the city was under COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. The artist entered Wuhan as a photojournalist during the lockdown. In addition to reporting news, he used a camera to document plants in the city. The uncanny visual effect of negative films suspends viewers’ perception of the imagery world and problematizes photography’s claim to objective truth by generating questions about what is — and is not —readily visible to the human eye. In the spring of 2022, the artist experienced another two-month lockdown to contain China’s worst COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai. From April 1 to June 1, the artist was quarantined at home alone. As the city moves from a lost spring to summer, the artist used the same way to document plants in Shanghai.

Series-I
个人创作-I

Wet Summer (2021)

In July, a flood disaster occurred in my hometown, Henan Province. According to official reports, more than 14 million people were affected, of which 302 died and 50 went missing. I returned to my hometown and took this group of photographs.

Series-II
个人创作-II

Late Spring I (2020)

“Late Spring” is a series of black and white negative prints of Wuhan plants from when the city was under COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. The artist entered Wuhan as a photojournalist during the lockdown. In addition to reporting news, he used a camera to document plants in the city. The uncanny visual effect of negative films suspends viewers’ perception towards the imagery world and problematizes photography’s claim to objective truth by generating questions about what is — and is not —readily visible to the human eye. In the spring of 2022, the artist experienced another two-month lockdown to contain China’s worst COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai. From April 1 to June 1, the artist was quarantined at home alone. As the city moves from a lost spring to summer, the artist used the same way to document plants in Shanghai.

Series-III
个人创作-III

Bio简介

Yangkun is a portrait and documentary photographer born in 1992, in Henan province, China. He uses the language of photography to explore the complexity of Chinese society in a subtle way. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in various art institutions, including the Shanghai Center of Photography, Zhejiang Art Museum, and Art Museum of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art.

His work has received multiple awards including PHMuseum Photography Grant, PDN Emerging Photographer, TOP20 Chinese Contemporary Photographer and the First Prize of UrbanPhotoFest Open. Working as an additional cinematographer, he also participated in the filming of the documentary Ascension.

Instagram:Yangkun Shi