Contemporary photography seems to be enveloped by a layer of Chinese haze these days. Ferit Kuyas‘ work on Chongqing, the City of Fog; Muge’s series on the Three Gorges dam; Benoit Aquin’s images of Le Dust Bowl Chinois… Along with Dubai’s crane-filled cityscape, capturing China’s warp-speed industrialization has become de rigueur for fine art and documentary photographers. Ian Teh’s extensive project China: Undercurrents merits special attention, as his photos bridge the gap between Düsseldorf School landscape photography and the more overtly political work of photographers like Lewis Hine, Walker Evans, Eugene Smith, or Bruce Davidson.
Top: A worker in a coal mine, from Ian Teh’s Dark Clouds, his series on the ‘grey ash’ of Chinese industry
Bottom: From Benoit Aquin’s Le Dust Bowl Chinois
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[...] also always loved Granta’s writing, especially on travel, and its strong photo essays (like Ian Teh’s Traces, which was featured in the Going Back issue). Now it’s a total package. [...]