In 1994, Chinese artist Liu Zheng conceived of an ambitious photographic project called The Chinese, which occupied him for seven years and carried him throughout China. Inspired by the examples of August Sander and Diane Arbus, he has captured a people and country in a unique time of great flux, providing a startling vision of the deep-rooted historical forces and cultural attitudes that continue to shape China and its people. Liu seeks out moments in which archetypal Chinese characters are encountered in extreme and unexpected situations. His photographs are divided among a number of topics which betray a dark vision, albeit one that is laced with mordant humor. His main subjects to date have included street eccentrics, homeless children, transvestite performers, provincial drug traffickers, coal miners, Buddhist monks, prison inmates, Taoist priests, waxwork figures in historical museums, and the dead and dying.
Liu Zheng
The Chinese
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Steidl (September 2, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-3865210371
Order: www.amazon.com
Liu Zheng: The Chinese
Liu Zheng: The Chinese
Liu Zheng: The Chinese
Liu Zheng: The Chinese
Liu Zheng: The Chinese
Liu Zheng: The Chinese
Liu Zheng: The Chinese
Liu Zheng: The Chinese
Liu Zheng: The Chinese
