A visual feast witnesses the great changes of an era. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Shanghai Photographers Association (SPA), the Shanghai International Photography Festival 2022 and the 16th Shanghai International Photographic Art Exhibition, with the theme "Photography Enables Shanghai to Encounter a Colorful World", opened today at the wool & flax warehouse in Binjiang, Yangpu, Shanghai.

Hosted by the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Yangpu District People's Government and SPA, organized by the Publicity Department of the CPC Yangpu District Committee, the Yangpu Culture and Tourism Administration, and the Yangpu Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the exhibition brought together nearly 269 photographers from Shanghai, the country and around the world with 1,303 outstanding works, to jointly create "Shanghai Image Parlor".

Fusion and symbiosis

The exhibition is divided into four parts: "Original Aspiration - Everlasting Classics" - Fine Works Exhibition for the 60th Anniversary of Shanghai Photographers Association, "Blooming - Beautiful Home" - the 16th Shanghai International Photography Art Invitational Exhibition, "Meeting - Colorful World" - the 16th Shanghai International Photographic Works Exhibition, and "Youth - Future of Image" - the 6th Shanghai Youth Photography Art Exhibition. Various photographic forms, including documentary photography, artistic photography, conceptual photography, cross-media image and installation, fused innovatively and brought out the best in each other in the century-old wool & flax warehouse.

Countless canopied boats are moored in front of the customs building; in a dense field, three farmers in Wusong tread on a waterwheel; in faint morning light, fishermen row boats as they look into the distance……In the exhibition hall, a set of works, themed Historical Images of Shanghai, was eye-catching. The avant-garde and vivid works by urban photographer Jin Shisheng record the memories of Shanghai and the changes of people's life in Shanghai from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Image of the Western Region is at another corner. A collection of 20 works in this section, created by Zhuang Xueben, one of China's earliest visual anthropology photographer in the minority areas of Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai and Yunnan provinces from 1934 to 1941, show the amicability of China's ethnic minorities during that period.

Many of these works created in recent years - busy Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, passionate sports events, the quiet waterfront of the Huangpu River…From the period of fine art photography in the Republic of China to the beginning of the 21st century, from the master of pictorial photography Lang Jingshan to the French photographer Nicholas Henry, the exhibition brought together photographic works in different periods and from various countries, to present a pluralistic and changeful world of photography for all.

According to an introduction, the works on display span nearly a century in terms of creation time and the age of the artists. The exhibition received more than 53,000 contributions from 34 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as 15 foreign countries like the U.S., the UK, the Netherlands, Japan and Senegal, and invited 11 winners of the Golden Statue Award for China Photography, as well as 10 famous overseas photographers to participate, creating many records in the history of the exhibition.

Youth and future

Notably, the exhibition turned on a spotlight for young photographers.

As a parallel exhibition of the Shanghai International Photography Festival 2022, based on the 2nd Shanghai Advanced Workshop for Young Photographic Talents, "Youth - Future of Image" - the 6th Shanghai Youth Photography Art Exhibition invited 16 participants in the 2nd Shanghai Advanced Workshop for Young Photographic Talents, to salute classics and masters with their unique energy and creativity together with 10 outstanding young photographers from around China, and present more possibilities and enterprising spirit of photographic art in inheritance, exploration and innovation. This is the second consecutive time that the exhibition has been held during the Shanghai International Photography Festival, and it aims to create a platform for young photographers to show their strength.

"This year's 6th Shanghai Youth Photography Art Exhibition will see the emergence of more outstanding young photographers," said Xin Yahua, Resident Vice President of SPA. "The youth is the future of the country and arts. The inheritance and development of photography art from generation to generation is very important. Through the exhibition, we saw young photographers active in thinking apply various approaches to greatly enrich the expressive forms of works, which is a supplement to this year's exhibition."

Binjiang from an artistic perspective

The "Zone for Shanghai's Photography Books over the 60 Years" was opened for the fine works exhibition dedicated to the 60th anniversary of SPA in the exhibition hall of the ground floor, which displayed representative photography theories, reviews and albums collected since the 60th anniversary of SPA; the audio & video room played 28 interviews with famous photographers in Shanghai on a loop. Meanwhile, there was a collection exhibition on the ground floor, displaying the works of contemporary image artists such as Wang Qingsong, Zhang Kechun and Shen Zhonghai.

Besides, featured activities will be held during the Shanghai International Photography Festival 2022 and the 16th Shanghai International Photographic Art Exhibition, including a photography summit, photography lectures, a sharing session, a photography bazaar, "Light and Shadow - the 31st Autumn Poetry Party", and a creation activity themed by "Yangpu from the Perspective of Famous Photographers", to create a platform for art exchanges between photographers and the public, and build a real photography art festival.

With profound heritage of centurial industry, centurial universities, centurial workers' movements and centurial municipal works, Yangpu is the place where the concept of "people's city" was proposed. 5.5 kilometers of waterfronts have been opened in Binjiang, Yangpu since 2017, to leave the best resources with the people. Now this place has transformed from an industrial rust belt into a beautiful life belt.

"We've been bringing in large events and exhibitions like this to make more cultural projects settle in Binjiang, for example, the previous Art Theme Show of the 9th Shanghai Citizen Art Exhibition, Shanghai Urban Space Art Season and the auditions for The Voice of China all took place and boomed in Binjiang," said Liu Xiaoli, Deputy Director General of the Yangpu Culture and Tourism Administration. "I believe Binjiang with a strong artistic atmosphere will further meet the spiritual and cultural needs of residents in Yangpu and Shanghai.

Exhibition tips

Venue: Wool & Flax Warehouse, Binjiang, Yangpu (32 Qinhuangdao Road).

Time: 10:00-17:00 October 28-November 13. By admission only on October 28 and 29; open to the public from October 30.

How to reserve: Please make a reservation online on a real-name basis. You can scan the QR code below to access "Shen Service" to make a reservation. If you have not made a reservation, you will be denied access. After a successful reservation, please check the reservation details in "My Reservation - Current". If you fail to visit the exhibition on time for some reason, please cancel your reservation at least one day earlier.