Archive for February, 2011

28
Feb

Mosaic-tiled public service posters in Ruihua Lane

By Sue Anne 5 Comments
Categories: Art, Games and Hobbies, Street Stories and The Lives Within

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[Note: I've closed comments on this specific post as it seems to attracting spammers.]

I wasn’t quite sure how I landed in Ruihua Lane (瑞华坊) which is nestled between Fuxing Middle Lu (复兴中路) and Hefei Lu (合肥路). It wasn’t the most direct of routes but I found myself admiring a display of public service posters made up entirely of large mosaic tiles.

I caught an older resident walking his dog, and asked if he knew when these posters went up. Sometime in early 2000s, he replied, not too long ago.

Though slightly fading, the posters, in good Party-like slogan fashion, reminded residents of behaviors that supported a civilized society: protecting the environment (绿化美化，保护环境), maintaining neighborly and familial harmony (邻里团结，家庭和睦) (with the classic 2 grandparents-2 parents-1 child family structure), keeping law and order (遵纪守法，遵纪秩序), helping others in the footsteps of the exemplary revolutionary hero Lei Feng (学习雷锋，助人为乐)  and promoting the belief in science to combat superstitions (普及科学破除迷). The cartoons were cleanly drawn, made to resemble that of a young child, but effective.

But why here on Ruihua Lane, and not anywhere else? I wondered. After searching for similar art in neighboring lanes, I found other mosaic-tiled posters but only with more detailed text (of soft warnings for safety) and no pictures.

After a little bit of research, I found out that Ruihua Lane was believed to be a good neighborhood due to its proximity of wealthier occupants in nearby Jinan Lu (济南路) before 1949. It was also close to the site of the first National People’s Congress (全国人民代表大会) meeting on July 23, 1921 which was also marked the birth of the Chinese Communist Party. Or as most would know it now as Xintiandi (新天地). Politicians attending the NPC meeting had apparently resided in Ruihua Lane during that time including Leng Yuqiu who had served in the Republic of China army and met with Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De.

Sadly, in a matter of another year or so, Ruihua Lane would be no more. Almost a third of the residents in that lane have moved out and the entrances to their homes have been bricked up to prevent squatters. But mostly as a ringing sign of its pending demise. This is the case of many neighboring lanes in the area.

While the mosaic posters were not heavily aged, they were an evolved version of civil propaganda, using long-standing Party concepts but revised for more modern times as opposed to older images of peasants and workers. We’ve left that behind us a long time ago.

As such, they made a colorful addition to the lane’s character. The only irony is that as reminders of enduring good behavior, they will suffer the fate of a limited shelf life.

February 2011

24
Feb

26 FEB: Amy Sommer’s talk and my photography for Royal Asiatic Society

By Sue Anne 0 Comments
Categories: Exhibits, Talks and Publications

This coming Saturday, Amy Sommers will be giving a talk about the state of Shanghai’s pre-War residential housing market, the entangled and complex problems relating to ownership and property rights which has contributed to the continuing razing of Shanghai’s old neighborhoods.

At Amy’s kind invitation, I’ll be showcasing my photography work on the demolition of Shanghai’s pre-War homes as well as disappearing longtang life in accompaniment.

I’ll also bring in tow the photo boards from The Roving Exhibit I’ve written about and will be most pleased to talk about it after Amy’s presentation.

More details at The Royal Asiatic Society: “Disappearing Shanghai: The History of Shanghai Housing 1949 to the present” by Amy Sommers

Saturday 26th February, 2011 at 4.00pm
The PuLi Hotel and Spa, 1 ChangDe Road, Level 3 Meeting Room

P.S. I will also be speaking at the upcoming Shanghai and Suzhou Literary Festivals, on a book I contributed to and another on photographing street stories. More details next week!

22
Feb

“You’re only has good as your last haircut.”

By Sue Anne 0 Comments
Categories: Street Stories and The Lives Within

I thought this perfectly captured how it is like to peer into the lives of others on a cold and windy day. In this case, the lives of the many dealing with the obligatory hair cut, perm or dye job.

With modernization comes varying and evolving tastes. In an old neighborhood, trendy hair salons are manned by young folk in sassy clothes and colored hair, revved to offer you the hairstyle of their pop idol. The interiors are fussy with large mirrors, posters and cluttered with electronic paraphernalia for the latest hair technology the salon could afford.

In contrast, the hairdresser of yesteryear which has occupied the same corner for the last decade is austere in interior design, sparse with slim mirrors and basic accoutrements of shaving brush, rasors and some basic toiletries.

On a separate note, I’ve never thought much about reflective shots with double-exposure effect untill I saw the work of Dougie Wallace, whose reflective work has been crafted like art. Inspiring stuff to remind you to push yourself to seek new perspectives on the mundane

February 2011

16
Feb

Action down at Dubai’s Meydan Racecourse

By Sue Anne 1 Comment
Categories: Off the Streets of Shanghai

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What does one do at a racecourse besides the obvious activity of watching horses run toward an oatmeal bag at the end of a line?

Gamble of course. But how can one indulge in speculative behavior in a Muslim country? Surely it is un-Islamic.

At the same time, in a country which aims to attract powerful corporate investments while attending to a majority foreign population, compromises and the manoeuvring of technicalities are abound.

This is why alcohol is not consumed publicly, but they flow generously in private occasions. Modesty in dressing does not apply to the beaches in Dubai, or at least not to the many Russians and British sunning themselves silly on the sand. Lines have been crossed as seen in the arrest of a British couple caught fornicating on the beach in Dubai a while back. Nevertheless, Dubai is largely tolerant of infidel behavior.

Still, I remain impressed (used loosely here) by the way UAE businessmen have managed to indulge in luxuries of their non-Islamic counterparts while keeping to the minimum of Shariah law.

One evening, I was in the recently opened Dubai’s Meydan Racecourse, commissioned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. The Telegraph has commented that the size of Dubai’s Meydan Racecourse made the British Ascot Racecourse look small. Indeed Meydan looked like any major Dubai structure: massive, shiny and under-populated.

I was given a racing card and a pencil. No money was deposited or ticket exchanged for my mare of choice. Rather, I was told to fill in my predictions for wins, if I won them seven times in a row, I’d win some money. So no gambling, just an overelaborated equine lucky draw. Brilliant.

Of course, while VIP guests dined on unkosher food and wine in the luxurious corporate suites 5 storeys up, I wandered down to the public space, filled with local residents itching for a win. Well, not really local, but they are predominantly male and from everywhere: India (Mumbai, Kochi, South Kerala, Hyderabad), Pakistan (Peshawar, Kashmir), Somalia, Sudan, Egypt (“Don’t talk to me about Mubarak, the race has started.”). Whole families tend to be from Australia, UK and America.

A man from Kashmir pointed out in a race guide and explained why Number 3 was going to win (it didn’t), followed by Number 7 (ditto). I think he should stick to his day job as a construction manager. Another man from Sudan sprawled himself on a large prayer mat, texting furiously with his bookie, possibly. In another corner, a group of elderly men drank tea on the grass, waiting for the next race to begin. Few held racing cards and instead pieces of paper with elaborate predictions.

February 2011

14
Feb

Dubai: Steel, sand and sea

By Sue Anne 2 Comments
Categories: Off the Streets of Shanghai

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The last few days were well-spent lounging on the beach facing the Straits of Hormuz. The weather has been most welcoming in Dubai, balmy low to high twenties depending on the position of the sun and capricious clouds.

The only requirement of me was to decide where to eat and how to get there, “Canal boat, ma’am? Bugy ride? Or a forklift?”  I figured the staff to be so intuned to their guests’ needs, if I had laid down in the middle of the road, they’d roll me along with a stick.

The weighing machine moaned quietly when I weighed myself this morning.

This was my first exposure to surreal and oestentatious luxury in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), though I’d hardly call Dubai a definitive experience of the Middle East.

Nevertheless, it was a blur of foreign guests from all over the world and staff that were mainly from India, Parkistan, Philippines and the African region. Almost 70% of residents in Dubai are foreigners.

But the ones with the aura of real power and wealth were the sheks in white robes or kandura, trailed by their women in the occasional abayas. While the women were covered up, flashes of gold and Chanel/ Hermes bags would glint and distract you from their heavily drawn eyes.

The gleam of steel was prominent in Dubai which is made up of clusters of concrete and shiny buildings. They were interjected by sprawling desert and new houses under construction. New Dubai was a giant reflection of sun against ruthlessly cut architecture while Old Dubai was isolated yet restored for the tourists. The main activity in the city were wheeling, dealing and shopping.

Above are snapshots of shots of the luxury hotel Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, views of downtown Dubai from the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest structure, and the golden sand dunes of the UAE deserts where we were closing in on neighboring Oman. More to come.

February 2011

09
Feb

And it’s back to business!

By Sue Anne 3 Comments
Categories: To Market, To Market

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The whole country went back to work today. Well, officially that is. Major retail shops began opening as early as the 3rd and 4th day of Chinese New Year while others will take a few more days to travel back to Shanghai, be it by bus, train or car. The buzz is back, slow but definitely building.

Have you ever walked through the narrow corridors of wholesale markets that sell everything under the sun? Buttons, ribbons, underwear, threads, broken fridge magnets, wool for knitting, momentous that make no sense … bits of plastic glued together with a slogan or a funny picture. I wonder how one makes money out of such inconsequential objects, but they do.

This series was shot entirely from the chest level with guesstimate settings. Nobody likes to be photographed like a animal trapped in a pet cage. It’s understandable.

07
Feb

Another year goes by … 春节快乐! (and links)

By Sue Anne 1 Comment
Categories: To Market, To Market

I realize that I fled Shanghai without wishing all my readers a very Happy New Year, pardon my lack of manners. But as far as the Chinese calendar goes, today is the fifth day of the new year (初五) and late wishes remain sincere wishes.

I remain on vacation and out of Shanghai till the end of the week. The past few days have been well spent with family and friends in Singapore in absolutely gorgeous weather. As exciting as Shanghai can be, the winters are not kind with the wet chill and poor heating. Instead, I am sitting amidst swaying, lush green trees which rustle so seductively in the tropical breeze. The frequent rain showers have lowered the temperature to a coolness one could fall asleep under the stars with a beer in one hand.

In the meantime, I include a series of interesting links that have caught my attention in the last few weeks and have occasionally shared them on Twitter. I’ll be a bit more diligent about blogging in due course.

- What with the escalating violence between pro and anti-government protesters in Egypt, NYT Lens looks at the perils for photojournalists and the troubles they encounter when shooting in the streets. A young and talented photographer wrote about his experiences in Tahir Square and later talked about how he had funded his own way to Egypt to do a job he really cared about.

- It started with the article on ‘ruin porn in Detroit‘ talking about photographers who glamorize abandoned cityscapes as a result of the economic disaster. Many have responded, but I like David Campbell’s take which expanded to discuss more broadly when photography is regarded as ‘pornorgraphy’. David’s research and analysis of documentary photography and photojournalism is both academic and insightful, and very accessible to anyone who wants to better understand this field of work.

- Eric Kim, a prolific blogger on street photography, looks at the often wondered issue of the ethics of street photography. Photographing poverty (i.e. homeless or suffering individuals) and children can be controversial, and are rightfully debated. Where do you draw the line?

- 陆元敏谈摄影：从器材到影像. One of the “grandfathers” of street photography in China, Liu Yuaming (陆元敏) talks about his equipment, his experiences of shifting from film to digital, his preferences and the process of craft to image. (in Chinese)

- Paul French lists Shanghai’s architectural losses of 2010 as part of his annual review.

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