DAVID ELLINGSEN PHOTOGRAPHY

Well, that was quite the trip.

(Quick recap for those who have not read this Blog before: I had been invited to be an exhibiting guest artist at the 2009 Lishui International Photo Festival in Lishui, China. A bi-annual event in a city of 2.5 million in western China, the Festival runs from November 28th to December 3rd. It will be the first public exhibition of my new fine art series, Future Imperfect. 30 artists were invited from North America.)

And now on with the show…
After 26 hours of travel to the city of Lishui in China (about 6 hrs south of Shanghai) I finally arrived at the hotel just after 8pm, more than a little exhausted. I wanted nothing more than a long shower and a warm bed, but as soon as I put my bags down at the front desk the volunteers whisked me away to the Opening Ceremonies, which were already underway. I was expecting a conference room or something of that sort, so I was a little surprised to be ushered into a shiny new stadium where more than 10,000 people were in the stands watching the goings-on. Surreal after a trip like that. Television cameras, huge video screens, award presentations that seemed like they belonged on the Grammys…recipients rising up out of the stage to the top of a pyramid-like podium, hands raised in the air. Chinese generals, cultural dignitaries and a musical tribute with 100 dancers, singers and a lighting show that would put Vegas to shame. And all for a Photography Festival…hooray China!

Here’s the stage from where I was seated…

…and when I turned around (yes those bleachers are full!).

There were about 60 international guests at the hotel for the festival and the next morning we all got up early, had breakfast (Thousand Island dressing DOES look like yogurt) and were whisked off to Baiyan Forest Park, one of two main sites for the festival. A beautiful park at the edge of the city with a string of classical Chinese buildings which contained the galleries.

Entrance to the park’s festival site…

…and the view of some of the galleries.

Me with my work…

…and guests wandering through.

Following a morning wandering around the galleries we were taken for an official Welcome Luncheon Banquet and then back to the galleries to meet with curators and other experts from China. Lastly we headed to a converted oil factory to see the exhibits of the featured Chinese photographers. Beautiful work, including Lu Guang, the winner of this year’s W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Grant…a deserving honour for some moving work. A quote from the website about his work: “Lu Guang has been documenting the ecological disasters in China resulting from the rapid growth of the economy since 2005, focusing on environmental pollution and the problem of schistosomiasis. Over the last three decades, peoples’ living standards have constantly been on the rise in the country. At the same time, industrial pollution has brought serious consequences for public health and for the environment at large.”

The remaining days were filled with photography trips into the surrounding picturesque countryside, exploring the city of Lishui itself and connecting with the photographers and curators from China and North America. I’m going to list a few of my favorites from the festival below. There was so much beautiful work there but these caught my eye…

Joni Sternbach’s “Surfers” tintypes (you may recognize these from the recent October cover of PDN).

Chris Raeker’s “Midnight Carnival” series

Stephen Berkman’s ambrotypes, “Predicting the Past”

Mariette Pathy Allen’s “The Gender Frontier”

Mark Jaremko’s “Nightscapes”

Fellow Canadian Elaine Ling was there with her brand new book “Mongolia”

Wu Qi’s “The Heavy Dust”

There were MANY Chinese photographers with stellar work but it seems a lack of web support for them. Apologies, but there are no links for the following Chinese artists. You’ll have to hit the festival site)

Zhang Chao’s “Ugly”
No link available. See Lishui Festival site.

Fu Weixin’s “Run with the Dream”
No link available. See Lishui Festival site.

Su Jian’s “Mother of the Family”
No link available. See Lishui Festival site.

Well, that’s all for now. If you’re still with me, thanks for your interest. It was a great event.
Thanks again to Yan Li and the volunteers who were the ultimate hosts.
I’ll leave you with my “Photo of the Day” from Day 2…couldn’t resist.