A co-worker sent the link the Earth Album around school today. At this point in time I’m kind of wishing he didn’t. I can tell by the amazing, high quality photos that can be found on this site that I will be spending a good chunk of time browsing this site instead of attending to the large amount of work that has managed to pile up on my desk.
This weather this past weekend was almost picture perfect. The fall air was crisp and cool. The sky was kind of blue. Not too shabby for a November weekend in Shanghai. David and I couldn’t let this weather go to waste so we set out to explore some of Shanghai’s contemporary art scene. We stopped in the M97 gallery on Moganshan Lu. This contemporary photography gallery is always a joy to visit. Their current show is called the Esquisite Corpse. It’s a photographic play on the famouse Surrealist game. Each photograph is linked to the photos next to it by some sort of visual element. It’s a good sampling of well known and up and coming Chinese photographers. I am particulary fond of Jiang Zhi, Lu Jun, and Yang Yi. I also really like the works of James Whitlo Delano.
In addition to the work, I absolutely love Steven, the gallery owner. He always spends a tremendous amount of time talking to David and I about art and life in Shanghai-two of my favorite topics!
When I was a little girl I used to always look at my father’s National Geographic magazines. I was always captivated by the amazing images of wildlife, landscapes and people from far away lands. For a brief period of time I wanted to work for them. But sadly, the cost of cameras, lenses, and developing steered me away from pursuing photography in college and into graphic design.
Recently, my husband got a new fancy smancy SLR camera. It’s soooo nice! One day, while chatting with my dad over about the recent camera purchase, my father mentioned that National Geographic has a whole photography tips section on their website. They give easy to understand tips and suggestions on shooting all the things their photographers are known for: people, travel and action shots. They also have galleries and biographical information on their photographers. Jodi Cobb took the photo used in this post.
On a non-art related note, I also recently discovered that National Geographic has a series of short survival guide videos. I’m sure these will come in particularly handy as I combat the urban jungle of Shanghai.