Premium Photography

by+Yi+Mei

Located in the Caochangdi Art Area in Chaoyang District of Beijing， Three Shadows Photography Art Centre was established in June of 2007， becoming Chinas first private contemporary art center to focus on photography. The center is dedicated to building a platform to exhibit and promote Chinas photography art as well as discover and support photography talent. In 2009， Three Shadows first launched the “Three Shadows Photography Contests”， including “Three Shadows Photography Award” and “Shiseido Photographer Award.” The contests invited juries from diverse nationalities to select artists with independent spirit and potential against a backdrop of new trends and developments of photography in China as well as the dynamics of contemporary global photography. Winning works are printed， exhib- ited and published， introducing the latest achievements in Chinese photography to the public. Granting prizes to new artists enhances the sound development of Chinas contemporary photography.

The 6th Three Shadows Photography Contests attracted entries from about 600 photographers， with 28 ultimately standing out. Works from those artists have been displayed in an exhibition titled “Form-less： Award-winning Works of 2014 Three Shadows Photography Awards”. According to the curator， “formless” is about selfperception， self-innovation， self-deformation， and self-practice. “The works in this years competition came from different regions and used varied artistic languages，”remarks Rong Rong， photographer and founder of Three Shadows. “But they all have one thing in common： they seize the moment. And this resonates with our goals in starting the awards.”

In this years competition， Ju Lanching from Taiwan was honored for her A Journey Backward series taken in her hometown on Dongshan Island. “The more personal something is， the more value it has，” said renowned American documentary photographer Diane Arbus （1923–1971）. Jus work is highly personal， annotating her own life with fresh photos presented like a diary. In her series， Ju reconstructed her hometown in terms of “home”， “food， land and gods”， and “sea”. Successfully depicting her home， the works are arranged in a dismantled scrapbook and enlarged single photos， complemented by tangible objects and sounds collected from the town. “Taking photos of my hometown is like walking into gloomy memories and taking a journey backwards，” Ju Lanching explains.“Urbanization has distanced our home. I took photos to make hometown in our memory tangible for a moment， encouraging everyone to reflect on what home means to them.”

“When I first saw her works， they were presented individually and did not impress me much，” admits jury member Tokihiro Sato， professor at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. “But when her works were displayed together， my mind was changed completely. This is how photography began： one photo after another to preserve memories for us. Her work starts from memories of her hometown and relatives， recreating them all over again. And her work is composed of many layers of connotations.”

Liu Zhangbolong won the Shiseido Photographer Award. Born in 1989， Liu currently works and lives in New York. He majored in material science， so his work is largely captured in laboratories. “Most people who take photos of labs are artists or professional photographers， so they dont know much about the equipment，” Liu explains. “They see the place as outsiders. But I learned the stuff and knew the place. Still， when I went back as a photographer， it looked different.”

“His work combines art and science， which excites us，” proclaimed Kyoko Okada， director of Enterprise Culture of Shiseido， when she gave Liu the award.

Over the past three decades， the international ecological environment of photography has undergone great changes. Photography plays a more important role in manufacturing， science， research and everyday life. “Three Shadows is very important for the improvement of Chinas ecological environment of photography，” opines Arthur Ollman， professor at San Diego State University and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography. “It introduces global artistic ideas to China while showing Chinas artistic ideas to the world.” He believes Three Shadows provides a good chance for domestic artists to present their works to the international audience. “When works retain unique Chinese characteristics， they have a better chance of success.”