Changing imagery of the ‘city of the future’
Sitting in front of his computer, Zhou Jianmin, who has been working in the photography industry for 40 years, can tell the age of a wedding picture just by what people are wearing.
“A wedding picture from the 1980s usually features the bride wearing a white dress, holding a plastic bouquet with a small yellow purse hanging on her right wrist,” Zhou said, pointing at the computer screen showing several couples dressed alike.
In 1978, when Zhou became a photographer in a state-run photo studio in Shanghai, wedding photos were much simpler, with plainly dressed newly weds just sitting in front of the camera.
As reform and opening-up began in the late 1970s, stylish wedding dresses and studio pictures prevailed, sweeping through the country in a wave of fashion.
“The advent of color photography, digital cameras, as well as changes in the operating styles of photo studios brought huge changes to the industry,” Zhou said.
Opening-up also gave more opportunities for overseas travelers to explore the country.
Adrian Bradshaw, a British photographer, was one of those explorers. He landed in Shanghai in the 1980s and captured the awakening of fashion through his lens.
In his pictures, five young men with big hair, wearing garish shirts and bell-bottom trousers walk along the Bund; young ladies crowd around a cosmetics counter in a department store.
“I was more interested in everyday aspects of life. Visually, one of the main things that changed was how people dressed, how they changed their hairstyles,” Bradshaw said.
A few decades later, Shanghai started to hold its own international fashion festivals.
Shanghai Fashion Week is now a top international fashion event, with more than 40,000 industry insiders involved.
And the city is ambitious to become a fashion hub with international influence, where international brands locate and debut their products.
“Shanghai has always been a bit different. When I came here there were more people making efforts to show that they had ideas,” Bradshaw said.
His pictures still remind him of the time when earth-shattering changes were taking place.
Four decades later, with over 600 regional headquarters of transnational corporations and over 400 foreign R&D centers located in Shanghai, this leading city of shipping, trade and innovation has attracted hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world to visit, live and work.
Mark Siegemund, a German architect and photographer, did not hesitate to move in Shanghai in 2010 after spending time in the city as an exchange student.
Siegemund sees Shanghai as a place where the modern and traditional intersect.
His Instagram account is full of pictures of Shanghai.
Bright neon lights contrast with a dark blue sky. Skyscrapers overshadow narrow alleys.
Intense contradictions make his photographs unforgettable.
“Shanghai is a city of the future,” Siegemund said.
He adds bold futuristic elements like super heroes and spaceships to his photos, which somehow blend perfectly with Shanghai’s cityscape.
As the city transforms, the representatives of old and new also change. Park Hotel, a rare tall building decades ago and a popular background scene in Zhou’s old photos, has now vanished among skyscrapers.
For the last two years, Siegemund has extended his enthusiasm to aerial photography, focusing on the high-rises in financial center Lujiazui and along the Bund.
While hosting modern high-rises, advanced AI research centers and a plant of the world’s leading electric carmaker, Shanghai avoids losing its uniqueness by maintaining its heritage.
With new regulations protecting historic buildings, more traditional buildings may appear in Siegemund’s photos.
“As the city pays more and more attention to preserving history, the contrast and blending of the old and new creates a character that no other city has,” Siegemund said.
The changes captured by these photographers are embedded in their lives.
Zhou now preserves the history of Shanghai by restoring old photos. Bradshaw’s exhibitions of fashion and life four decades ago can be seen both in Shanghai and Oxford. A strong sense of belonging has drawn Siegemund into more innovative projects in Shanghai.
“Shanghai is open to new ideas and creative thinking, with many opportunities and few restrictions,” said Siegemund. “It is the city of dreams.”
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