Liyu and Liu Bo’s 13 Months in the Year of the Dog turned news snippets into tongue-in-cheek recreations. They are working on a similar series for 2007 and as the year draws to a close, one sees China through a collection of weird and sometimes funny “news” images.
They question the ability of the media to be a subjective representation of the truth:
…the magic power and literary value of news has far exceeded our anticipation and even films: deceit, murder, eroticism and violence…so striking and unimaginable. How can one decide whether these stories have truly happened or not simply relying on written words? Maybe it’s not important, at least they have truly existed in the papers.
2007
Man in Pursuit Jumped Through Ceiling, Shocking Meeting in Progress
Karaoke Hostess Forced Drugged, Suspect Under Investigation
2006
Girl Stalked in Early Morning – Elders Fight off Gangsters with Swords
Hair Salon Wonder – Hairdressing while Smashing
Chongqing Monk Goes on Pilgrimage to Wuhan Guiyuan Temple
[all images © Liyu and Liu Bo]
The series provide a look into the present state of Chinese society. We see an apathetic society where the plight of others are generally ignored. Perhaps viewers’ perceptions are distorted by the photographers’ choice of sensationalized headlines but it sure makes China appear to be a weird place to be.
2 Comments
These are great. Good idea, nicely done.
Big fan of these, too. Saw them somewhere else, maybe Conscientious, and couldn’t get them out of my mind. Also love the Asian Photography Blog. Great idea to share some of the great work coming out of such a big place.