What does the human figure stand for in landscape photography?

Behind every image, there is more than “V” signs in our hands and big smiley faces, the use of the human figure in landscape photography can be traced back through the development of European Landscape Painting, the Chinese tradition of Shan Shui and German Romanticism. Also, during the lecture we will be discussing the boundaries between land and human, spiritual and religious, our inner and outer soul.

Our lecturer Peter Dixie, a British Photographer, will also be introducing known photographers from around the world, Kalle Kataila (Finland), Weng Fen (China) and Peter Bialobrzeski (German), in order to elicit the meaning of the human figure in landscape.

The lecture will be held on the 21st of November (Saturday), 3pm at kunst.licht gallery.

Titled “Super Shanghai”, this workshop will give students the chance to work the streets of Shanghai side-by-side with a Pulitzer price nominated professional documentary photographer and photo journalist who also happens to be a just wonderful, warm and amazing human being

The hands on training will be embedded into discussions about technique and equipment, a historical overview and intensive critique of the students’ current work and their assignment to shoot “Super Shanghai”.

The total cost of the workshop will be 2500 RMB per seat and there will be only 12 seats available.

To learn more about Susana Raab click here. Also download the workshop outline in English and Chinese.

See you shooting “Super Shanghai”!

To apply for this workshop, please send us a short statement about yourself and 10-20 low resolution images.

Contact: T 21 624 907 37, doris (at) kunstlicht.sh

Susana Raab is a documentary photographer who began her career as a photojournalist in Washington, DC covering politics.  She worked for the New York Times Washington bureau for four years (where she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of a shooting on Capitol Hill) before attending graduate school at Ohio University School of Visual Communications.  While in graduate school, she interned at the Palm Beach Post during the 2004 hurricane season and her work there was part of a team package on the hurricanes that earned the Post the distinction of finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature photography.

In Ohio, she began two long-term projects: Consumed: Fast Food in the US; and Off-Season: America at Leisure.  These projects have received much recognition from the White House News Photographers Association, The Ernst Haas/Golden Light Awards, the Center (formerly Santa Fe Center for Photography), American Photo, Photo District News, and Photo Espana, among others.  Her work is widely exhibited, both nationally and internationally, most recently at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo in Madrid, and the Noorderlicht Photofestival in the Netherlands.

More information about Susana Raab can be found at www.susanaraab.com

On September 19th, British Photographer Peter Dixie will analyze the relation between modern science and technology and classic portraiture from an international perspective. The lecture will trace back to the development and styles of portraiture in history, and will explore the influence of modern science and technology on portraiture.

The session will take a theoretical look at portraiture covering meaning, the role technology plays in creating photographic images, the implications of this technology in portraiture, and arguing for the creation of portraits in series.

Peter Dixie is a British architecture photographer based in Shanghai. He studied Professional Photography at AIB (the Arts Institute at Bournemouth, now known as the Arts University College Bournemouth). He also studied photographic printing, processing and retouching at DOI Tech Tokyo for two years. He has a special deep insight towards technology and photography.

Exhibitions:
March 2009, New[AD]Venture. Shanghai. Group exhibition. In Passing: Two Personal Journeys, Series of 9 black & white prints.
July 2005, Peep. AOP Gallery, London. Group exhibition.
March 2004, Peep. Cafe Blu, Bournemouth. Group exhibition. New York seen through the eyes of 23 photographers.
December 2003, Help a London Child. Cafe Blu, Bournemouth. Group exhibition and photo auction in aid of the charity Help a London Child.
Purposiveness without purpose (March 2002). Gallery i, Tokyo. Solo exhibition. A series of 11 black & white images exploring Kant’s conception of Beauty.

Lectures:
Making Meaning: Narrative/Ambiguity/Symbolism – Garden Books & Café / 21.6.09
Constructed Spaces: the Human Figure in Landscape Photography – Garden Books & Café / 24.5.09
Portraiture: Culture/Theory/Meaning – Garden Books & Café / 12.4.09

Booking info:
Seats available: 20
Price: FREE!
Phone: 021-62490737 (Opening hours11:00-19:00, Tuesday closed)
E-mail: joanna (at) kunstlicht.sh; doris (at) kunstlicht.sh

2009 nextkunst.licht exhibition is the first of a series of exhibitions dedicated to seeking out the most promising talent among a young generation of Chinese photographers and giving them the opportunity to present their work before an international audience.

The first edition of nextkunst.licht will feature the works of five artists: Fei Tian, Ge Fang, Sun Yanchu, Tang Like, and Wen Jian.

The exhibition is open to the general public on:
June 20th-September 19th 2009, 11am-7pm
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 20, 4 – 6 pm
Location: 210 North Wulumuqi Road, Shanghai, China

The exclusive M1NT Shareholder’s Club in Shanghai provided the perfect backdrop for a very special art afternoon with Shen Wei. Selected guests enjoyed the reception with food creations by head chef Ian Pengelley and the artist’s one hour lecture on the successful series "Almost Naked" and the upcoming "Chinese Sentiment".

The workshop is open to practicing photographers and advanced students in photography. Participants will be selected by kunst.licht Gallery curators and Shen Wei based on materials submitted for review. The workshop will take place in the kunst.licht Gallery space in Shanghai from February 5th – 8th, 2009.

To ensure personal attention and individual teaching the workshop is strictly limited to 10 participants. Participants of the workshop must have a sufficient body of work both in quality and quantity to bring to the class critique. The participants will also have the opportunity to be selected as one of the next.kunstlicht artists if applicable.

You can download the workshop curriculum and further details (PDF) in English and Chinese. Please submit a brief biography and 5 – 10 samples of your work (JPEG ONLY) to workshop (at) kunstlicht.sh. The cost of the workshop is RMB 2000. Participants living outside Shanghai are responsible for their own travel expenses and accommodation.

And indeed it is what it says it is, a show, an event, a fair with some of the finest vintage and contemporary photography on display. With Japan as the guest of honour it was the first time for Paris Photo to pay special attention to the far east and its rich heritage in fine art photography. A good sign and a step into a very important direction as it might pave the way for a show focusing on Chinese contemporary photography.

I talked to many gallery directors, curators and collectors and they are all full of praise for the fantastic organization, support, press coverage and the very knowledgeable crowd of visitors from all over the world. If you’re into photography as a form of art, be it as a professional, collector, connoisseur or student, there is no way around Paris Photo. And last but not least it is in Paris…

Impressions from Paris Photo 2008

To find out more about next.kunstlicht, please visit the new website. Please also download the application form [PDF].

Check it out if you happen to be around!

Times Square, New York City

Yemi by Shen Wei

The roll of honour

Congratulations from everyone at the gallery!

The Pingyao International Photography Festival will take place from September 19th until September 26th. kunst.licht Photo Art Gallery Shanghai will participate with its own exhibition and will present  works by Bai Xiaoci ("I Live In Here"), Kasey Myrick ("Disturbances") and Shen Wei ("Almost Naked"). Shen Wei will also be featured with his new series "Chinese Sentiment" in a group exhibition called "Gazing China".

Please also check out our daily blog from the Pingyao Festival.

Icon Art Map launch event

Meet the crowd…

Yifat Hadaya of Icon Art Map and Lin Yun, Gallery Director of kunst.licht

Two photography auctions were held in London at Sotheby’s (May, 13th) and Christie’s (May, 15th).
While the interest in the auctions was good, the auction results themselves were moderate with most of the art works under the hammer selling within or below the estimates of the auction houses. A few noteworthy exceptions (among others) were prints from:

Henri-Cartier Bresson
"Barrio Chino, Barcelona" from 1933, sold at 30.000 Pounds, est. 8-12.000 Pounds (Sotheby’s)

Florence Henri
"Compostion (bobbins and mirrors)" from 1928, sold at 20.000 Pounds, est. 4-6.000 Pounds (Christie’s)

Hugo Erfurth
"Marc and Bella Chagall" from 1923, sold at 17.000 Pounds, est. 3-5.000 Pounds (Christie’s)
"Oskar Kokoschka" from 1920, sold at 20.000 Pounds, est. 8-12.000 Pounds (Christie’s)

Robert Mapplethorpe
"Hermes", from 1988, sold at 28.000 Pounds, est. 12-18.000 Pounds (Sotheby’s)

David Lachapelle
"Jesus is my homeboy (the last supper)", from 2003, sold at 19.000 Pounds, est. 7.5-10.000 Pounds (Sotheby’s)

Helen Levitt
"New York" from 1980, sold at 11.000 Pounds, est. 4-6.000 pounds (Sotheby’s)

The best selling single print was "Satiric Dancer, Paris" from 1926 by André Kertész. This vintage print was sold for 190.000 Pounds. A substantial offer of Japanese prints (Christie’s) seemed mostly undervalued and it will be interesting to see how Japanese contemporary photography will do in the future.

This lecture marks the beginning of a series of workshops and lectures that will be held at kunst.licht Photo Art Gallery Shanghai. The events will cover a wide range of activities from photo art and the art market to lectures about the technique of photography and hands-on workshops with our artists. A white paper of today’s lecture will be online soon.

If you’d like to be informed about future events, please use our contact form. We’ll be in touch!

Click [here] to see the picture gallery of the opening event.