Augenblick , Profile : Peter Dixie

British Photographer Peter Dixie has explored the new "borders" of Shanghai by shooting photographs of each end of the metro stations.The project is called 上海Hinterland Since I visited Shanghai for the first time ten years ago around 11 metro lines has been completed giving a different shape of urban settlements. I want to present his work on the eve of the Shanghai Expo which will open his gate on the 1st of May.
Here the Introduction of the work by Peter Dixie :
Each metro station acts as a locus of development. Around these nodes cluster shops, restaurants and other small businesses, nearby are residential neighbourhoods. Within the city these run together forming a solid continuum. As the city expands the nodes become more distant, space opens up between them and this space is by its very nature ambiguous. Villages pre-dating the city are slowly surrounded, incorporated, cannibalised and replaced, industry sits side by side with the remnants of farmland and homes, pockets of wasteland are interspersed allowing birds and other wildlife a refuge and providing space for spontaneous and informal land use.
From each metro station occupying the terminal position on a line one can wander quickly into these areas of collision and flux. It is those landscapes that are represented here

Augenblick, Blog on photography - Books : Somewhere there's music by Larry Fink

Beautiful book on Jazz by Larry Fink, the book offers a great view of photos from different Jazz musicians , here the introduction by George Panichas:
Larry Fink secured enduring fame with the book Social Graces, which mixed images from working-class Pennsylvania with a portfolio from upper-crust Manhattan, observing manners and mores on the long, curvy couches of Studio 54 and in the chaos of Pat Sabatine’s eighth birthday party, where the screen door is always just about to slam. Fink has always been interested in what high and low culture have to say to one another, and has continued to seek the best of both behind the scenes at fashion shows in Runway and in the ring with sparring fighters in Boxing.Somewhere There’s Music collects Fink’s mostly-unpublished black-and-white jazz photographs from the 1950s to the late 1970s. In these photos Fink captures the cool heights of the Beat era, from Harlem’s famous Lennox Lounge, where the reader can almost hear John Coltrane serenading with his sax, to the Village Vanguard, where Sonny Rollins and Miles Davis made history. Other legends captured by Fink’s lens include Marion Brown, Roland Kirk, Steve Lacey, Leroy Jenkins (Revolutionary Ensemble), Archie Shepp and Lightning Hopkins, among many others. Sit back and be transported to another time with the hip cats of the jazz era in this passionate book featuring more than 80 duotone prints.

Augenblick , Exhibition : Yongkang Lu Art

I will exhibit 3 prints from my series on Chinese Cosplayer at the new renovated area of Yonkang road in a group exhibition . The opening will include three spaces in the same road
and all the exhibitions are curated by Zane Mellupe which is also presenting some artwork.
here the introduction of the exhibitions with the list of people who will present their work:

Asphalt Concrete at Yonkang Lu Openings (three galleries show in one road)
At Yongkang lu Art 83
Who pays the hidden costs of growth?
This exhibition explores in detail the pressures put on individuals, families and communities through different artistic mediums, and from local and foreign artist’s perspectives. From recent scandals to ever present problems, the artist unique approach tells us for once in a while to take a deep breath and consider where we currently stand.
The exhibition presents:
Lei Hua (CN), Sha Qin (CN) , Virginie Lerouge Knight (FR) ,Wang Lin (CN) , Daniele Mattioli (IT)
Zane Mellupe (LV) , Kaspars Podnieks (LV) , Krišs Salmanis (LV) , Rose Tang (CN)
curated by Zane Mellupe

C Individuals by Christophe Demaitre and Christin Kalweit
At Yongkang Lu Art 72 YK art space
C individuals - sea individuals - see individuals - is an exhibition of the artworks of Christophe Demaitre (Be) and Christin Kalweit (De). The exhibition reveals two different approaches of the perception of interaction between an individual and a crowd. Christophe has focused his work on portraying the crowd as a singular individual mass. The principal of his vision is to suggest that all individual elements assume equal importance. There is no central control and no autonomy within his composition. Christin’s work is highlighting the different individual emotional relationships that occur within a confluence. She draws particular attention to the unique elements of the singular individual, whether it is their emotions, mood, behavior or creations. She reveals the interaction between the singular entities in order to show the greater unity.curated by Zhu Ye and Zane Mellupe

aQuarium by Liu Dao
At Yongkang Lu Art 47

island6 shack
“Shush” she said and met herself for the 1389th time.

Augenblick, Blog on Photography , Book : Andy Warhol in China

Andy Warhol in China is a book with pictures from the visit of the American Artist in China.
A short note from Publisher:
A documentation of Andy Warhol's 1982 visit to China, this volume offers a unique glimpse of the international pop star by Christopher Makos, his personal photographer. With the advantage of hindsight, this volume becomes complexly ironic-in China in the 80s, almost no one knew who Warhol was. Just a few decades later, in 2006, Warhol's 1972 'Mao' sold for $17.4 million to a Hong Kong real estate tycoon. And Chinese artists have, for years, been incorporating Western pop iconography into their work. Photographer Christopher Makos became known in the 1970s for his candid shots of Warhol. Henry Geldzahler, the former Curator of Contemporary Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has written: 'It is a great asset in Chris Makos' photographs that they reveal new and unfamiliar faces of the legendary pop figure...' 
Photographs of Christopher Makos. Foreword by Ai Weiwei.

Augenblick , Magazine : Monu , Real Urbanism

I am not the first one who discover how Dutch are ahead in any form of visual and design art. Not only by the fact that here in Shanghai there is a big effort in promoting the design and architecture by renting the beautiful space at 800Show (Changde road ) but also the many publications and people involved . Today I will speak about Monu Magazine , real Urbanism, the magazine profiled an visual and written idea of modern urbanization creating a platform for artist, photographers , designer and architect focusing in key topics which are matter of discussion for a better idea of a city. I have looked into some names and some good photography in it . It is a Bi - Annual publication.

Augenblick, Books : Shanghai : a History in Photographs, 1842 - Today

I will attend the launch of the Book : Shanghai : a History in Photographs, 1842 - Today and the speech of Karen Smith which together with Pulitzer Winner Shing Heung Liu have worked in compiling a remarkable collection of Photographs of the Chinese Metropole. I am also proud to be part of this collection with a contribution of 2 photographs from my archive on Shanghai. Here the note from the publisher Penguin :
Shanghai is a visual history that tells the story of modern China as witnessed by this romantic city. The end of the Opium Wars in 1842 effected a dramatic transformation, turning a sleepy backwater into a bustling treaty port. Over the intervening 160 years, Shanghai has been shaped by outside forces - foreign concessions, Japanese invasions, the arrival of the Communists and the cult of Mao, they have all played their part in sculpting today's Shanghai. China's turbulent history is traced through Shanghai's evocative, beautiful, and sometimes painful images. As we reach the present day with its helter-skelter development, lavish wealth is juxtaposed against grinding poverty, and documented through the lenses of Shanghai's most important contemporary artists. Told through rare official archive photographs, images taken from private collections, new commissions, and co-author Liu Heung Shing's own work,Shanghai is the definitive history of the most beautiful of China's cities. Shanghaiwill be available in both hardcover and paperback, and will be for sale inside the Shanghai hall of the World Expo 2010

Augenblick, Books : Wien 2 by Annelies Oberdanner

A book on Vienna, city where I lived for 6 years. Always good to look at the many interpretation and views of the city. This time from the book "WIen 2" by Annelies Oberdanner.
Here the presentation of the book from the publisher:
Photographer Annelies Oberdanner’s second book of images of Vienna, this volume deepens her exploration of this magical city, delving even further into its color and atmosphere. At first glance, Oberdanner’s photos seem to be telling only part of the story, but they reveal a mystery as the viewer studies each image. Don’t expect picture-postcard scenes: she focuses on non-descript areas of town, looking behind the obvious facades at the surprising beauty of bare-branched trees mantled in snow, a potted plant abandoned on a sidewalk, high-rises sprouting from rubble. These unembellished, almost casual, scenes give a truer portrait of Vienna than any glossy guidebook.

Augenblick, Blog on Photography , Profile : Aria Hyytiainem

I really like the work of Finnish photographer Aria Hyytiainem, Check it out.