FACES OF SHANGHAI
Eurasia One
An exhibition of 18 artists from Europe and China
Project- Initiative, Concept & Coordination: Rolf A. Kluenter
Curator: Andrea Neidhoefer
Participating Artists:
Alexander Brandt – Chen Jiao – Chen Qiang – David Cotterrell – Christophe Demaître – Thomas Fuesser – Gong Yan – Susanne Junker – Rolf A. Kluenter – Steve Messam – Nik Nowak – Pu Jie – Oliver Ross – Paul Schwer – Zhang Hao – T. Charveriat – Zou Susu – Yang Longhai
For German Photographer Thomas Fuesser the character of a city manifests itself in the personality of the people, who live and work in it. For his series, Shanghai Faces, he photographs people with diverse social, professional and cultural backgrounds, all living in Shanghai. However, he confronts the viewer with a different problem: whether celebrities or successful businessmen, artists or common workers, all of his subjects are presented in the same pose in the fashion of a passport photograph. In front of a neutral background, without clothes and unnecessary make-up the artist separates the portrayed from their daily context and erases all indication about their social origins, occupation and social status. In a society accustomed to defining itself through outer appearance, possessions and status symbols, he directs view on the human being behind. Seeking the moment in which the gaze of his subject is not directed on the photographer or the camera, but directly on the viewer. A quick flash of spirit in the otherwise expressionless mimic, is the only reference to the personality of the portrayed. Both the sober composition and neutral facial expressions, along with the presentation of the works as group, create an exiting interrelation of directness and distance and pose not only questions of identity and uniformity but also of values by which we define ourselves and others.
对于德国摄影师托马斯• 福瑟(Thomas Fuesser) 而言,一座城市的本质是通过生活和居住在其中的人的个性而展现出来的。在他的作品系列“上海表情(Shanghai Faces)” 中, 他拍摄了许多不同社会背景、不同职业背景、不同文化背景的人们,而将这些人连接在一起的是: 他们都生活在上海。与此同时, 他给所有的观众设了个难题: 无论是知名人士、成功商人、艺术家还是普通工人, 每一个托马斯?福瑟作品中的主体都摆着护照照片正面半身像中的那种姿态。他们在中性的背景下赤裸着, 没有多余的化妆, 艺术家把被摄影者从他们的日常生活工作中解脱出来, 拭去了所有关于他们的社会背景、职业及社会地位的痕迹。在一个人们习惯于把外表、财产及社会地位作为评判标准的社会中,菲斯尔将大家的目光引向了这些因素背后的人本身。在这些作品中,福瑟想要捕捉的是摄影主体直接把目光投向观众、而非摄影师或者照相机的那些片刻。这种毫无表情的、短暂的心灵闪现才是被摄影者个性的唯一体现。简单的构图、中性的面部表情以及成组式的展出, 形成了直接感与距离感之间充满张力的相互影响, 除了对个性和一致提出质疑外, 也同时拷问了我们评判自己和他人的价值标准。