In an interview with with the Chinese magazine Magazone, Shen Wei talked about his series "Almost Naked" and about being a photographer in the USA.
All the people in your pictures behave very naturally. They face the camera as if they were facing themselves in a mirror. How do you achieve this? Have you sometimes also encountered difficulties? And how do you deal with these difficulties?
Gaining the trust of my subjects is essential for them to behave natural. Usually, I communicate with them intensively so that both sides do not feel embarrassed. Of course, a few times I have encountered some difficulties but they could all be sorted out.
What kind of people are you interested in for this series? Are there any specific characteristics that catch your eyes? If so what are these characteristics?
I have an instinctive curiosity about people. When I was little, I used to observe people on the bus. My subjects are from different classes, different races and different backgrounds. What I’m interested in is each person’s authenticity.
You are already working on the series “Almost Naked” for five years now. About this series you said: “what I want to analyze and explore is spiritually nakedness rather than physically nakedness.” What is this spiritually nakedness that you’re trying to capture? Can you further explain this?
Even though my subjects wants to reveal themselves and want to be understood through my pictures; in their physical or emotional nakedness they are still instinctively trying to hold back. I can see this internal struggle in their eyes and can tell from their behavior. Not knowing what they’re hiding, I can see the vulnerability of human nature at this very moment. This is exactly the “Almost Nakedness” I am looking for.
You said: “The more images there are in the series, the clearer the content of the series becomes.” As Almost Naked is now in its fifth year, have you gained some new understanding and reflections upon it?
Nakedness can reveal itself in a direct physical way as well as in more abstract ways, it depends. Sometimes it takes all of my intuition to try to understand the people in my images.
Joey
According to your observation, what are the differences between Chinese and American in human nature, their desires, emotions and instincts?
Due to a different historical background and different conditions, people in China and America have different ways of expressing their feelings. Chinese people are more emotionally reserved while Americans are more open in showing how they feel.
When did you go to America to study photography? Did your understanding of photography changed during your years in America? What do you think is the most important thing in people photography?
I went to America in 2000 for further studies. I was a major in design and besides a personal interest I had little knowledge of photography. It was in my second year in college that I decided to focus on photography. I’m someone who always tries to face creation and the learning processes openly. I must have tried nearly every combination of method and material so my understanding of photography rose gradually. Personally, my favorite people photography is of that sentimental kind that can express reality and nature.
Can you share some of your experience, like some teachers’ words you remember or some masters’ articles that inspired you?
Every teacher gave me some inspiration, some more, some less. Even though some of them could not understand what I was trying to do, I gained some useful insights from their comments. Photography became something special for me after a lesson about Diane Arbus. I was deeply impressed by her pictures. So I made up my mind to become an art photographer, trying to record the significance of life.
Do you have some advices for those who’re planning to study photography abroad?
One should choose a college according to the connection between his/her own style and the style of photography at the school. Every college has different characteristics and goals in its photography major. Extensive research is the key to finding a suitable college.
Jody
Do you have new plans? What are your plans for the future?
I’m working on my new series “Chinese Sentiment”, still in the blueprint stage. I think an artist’s career needs patience and a long term perspective. I hope that more people will see my pictures in the future and that my pictures will touch them.
Do you think a contemporary photographer should manage himself? Or focus on creation?
Creation and management are both essential. Creation is important while management gives creation its full scope.
New trends surface all the time in America. Are there recently some new trends in style and methodology in people photography?
Sure there are trends in artistic people photography, but always inexplicit. In comparison, trends and styles in the fashion photography circle change much more rapidly. Sometimes it even feels like every photographer is creating a new trend.
Thank you very much!
Susana Raab’s upcoming exhibition at kunst.licht (vernissage on Oct. 17th, 3pm) titled “Super America” will be accompanied by a four day hands-on workshop (Oct. 19th – Oct. 22nd) with Susana herself.
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.
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