Something odd to chase away the Monday blues for those of you half way around the world (it’s nearing midnight here).

Wang Yiqun explores the boundary between beauty and horror with his photographs of faceless women in the series ‘My Beauty’.

TOP TO BOTTOM. (from “My Beauty”)
© Wang Yiqun

From NetEase:

Wang Yiqun’s works are full of narrative arrangements. His manipulation of models, deliberate choices of settings and specific requirements of props are all footnotes to the storyline and complements to the photographer’s world view. Together, they give his photos a cinematic visual effect. The portraits are expressionless, and the lost facial details make it all the harder for the viewers to locate their identities.

More works here and here.

Shen Wei just updated his portfolio with a work-in-progress, containing a mixture of portraits, still life and landscapes.

Forbidden City, Beijing (from “Chinese Sentiment”), 2008
© Shen Wei

Lorence, Shanghai (from “Chinese Sentiment”), 2008
© Shen Wei

“God”, Huaxi, Guizhou Province (from “Chinese Sentiment”), 2008
© Shen Wei

I’m not so sure about the selection of images at the moment but it would be interesting to see how it develops over time.

Frivolous is the first solo show for Beijing-based Zu Jing at CPU:798, featuring two ongoing series, ‘Taxi Legs’ and ‘Blow Up’.

‘Taxi Legs’ presents the artist’s legs as their landscape upon which various objects from the artist’s immediate possessions are placed for our analysis…For the series ‘Blow Up’ Zu Jing snaps moments from every day life around her, but at a minute level of detail and abstraction.

TOP TO BOTTOM, (from “Taxi Legs”), 2006 - Present
© Zu Jing

In the vein of many socio-documentary work before hers, Zu Jing’s subject matter amplifies a generation of Chinese obsessed with the pursuit of worldly goods. Questions of identity and self are also raised. However, I’m getting slightly bored with the “socialist capitalism” concepts lately. At least this body of work provides something new.

More details here.

Exhibition details:
Zu Jing - Frivolous
8 June - 3 Aug 2008

CPU:798
2 Jiuxianqiao Lu
Chaoyang District
100015 Beijing
P.R. China

Mort Rosenblum and Gary Knight (from VII) have unveiled a new magazine - dispatches. The magazine’s financed by Dr. Simba Gill, an entrepreneur, scientist and businessman in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. And it’s not one of those pdf magazines that you get free online.

dispatches took root on an olive farm in Provence, flourished on a Kashmiri houseboat, and was toasted into reality with champagne at the East Gate of Angkor Wat. Its founders are a photographer who believes his lens should not filter out humanity, a reporter who feels real news can only be seen from up close in its historical perspective, and a pharmaceutical executive who thinks entrepreneurs should do more than make money.

The first issue focuses on America and features photos by Antonin Kratochvil (I’m a fanboy!). In a rare mix of great writing and photography, dispatches looks too enticing to just glance over at the newsstand. If anyone wishes to surprise me with an international subscription, I promise not to tell myself!

Get tempted over at their site.

(via On Shadows)

I know I’m a little slow in posting this but I was learning so much going through the video interviews last weekend that I completely forgot about posting it. For those who are unaware of it, the World Press Photo awards has a lovely collection of interviews up on their site. Worth wasting spending time at it during work. :)

Somebody nominated me for the Singapore Blog awards today. I’ve registered myself under Best Photo Blog, despite being more of an amalgamator of interesting photos than a content creator.

Nevertheless, I would be counting on you - my dear supporters, to vote for me when the voting round happens. It would account for 30% of the final score. Fingers crossed now, I hope that something good comes out of it! =)

anothermountainman / Stanley Wong is a talented photographer/designer/film director/creative director (the list goes on…) from Hong Kong. In his widely known redwhiteblue series, he examines the role of the ubiquitous red, white and blue tarpaulin material in our daily lives; as bags, shelters, covers, etc.

Spanning almost two decades, the work poses questions on the identity of this iconic symbol, as it is seen spanning out from China to different parts of the world.

TOP AND BOTTOM, (from “redwhiteblue”), 1988-2006
© anothermountainman

In another series, Lan Wei Lou, he photographed derelict buildings, which stood in testament to a property bubble that burst in China in the 1980s. He sought to capture the relics of this madness of crowds, and also to reflect upon the decaying spirit that seem to permeate all aspects of life since.

TOP AND BOTTOM, (from “Lan Wei Lou”), 2006
© anothermountainman

For more, visit his website.

Apologies for being reticent lately. I’m currently on internship and days quickly descend into a numbing existence. One thing I have learnt about myself so far is that I simply cannot fathom working from a cubicle in the future. Being chained to the desk and having mindless work thrust into my face can only hasten my descent into full-fledged clinical depression.

And I’ve been pondering seriously on my career choices because of this. I do not want to end up working at a dead end job with no future and no money. Events at home have also compelled me to move towards a clearer path in life, sans photography.

Nevertheless, I’d still be shooting personal work and will try to maintain this blog to the best of my abilities. This month, readership hit a new high with almost 10,000 unique visits and counting. I plan to continue keeping this blog ad-free and your kind support is fodder enough for its existence. It has allowed me to “meet” so many kind folks from around the globe and I’m always excited to get fan mail. So keep them coming and I’d post again real soon!

I found Suyeon Yun’s works whimsical on many levels. Some pictures work because of effective titling, while others contain visual puns that gives the images an extra edge (best seen large). Incomplete Journey, split into three chapters, brings the viewer through several layers of Korean society.

TOP TO BOTTOM, Eden, Speedo, Seoul Plaza I, Bouquet (from “Incomplete Journey”), 2008
© Suyeon Yun

Suyeon is current pursuing her MFA at Yale and is part of the Yale MFA group show at Danziger Projects.

(via Heading East)

Ma Liang shoots intriguing set pieces that question our perception of reality and life’s many facets. He was one of China’s leading commercial directors before trading that life for photography. Since then, he has received international acclaim for his fantastical, albeit heavily edited works.

Little Flagman, 2008
© Ma Liang

Nostalgia, 2006
© Ma Liang

Book of Taboo, 2005
© Ma Liang

Shanghai Boys, 2005
© Ma Liang

Read more about him at ArtZineChina. Visit his online portfolio here.