Click over to CBC.ca – Arts where photographer Greg Girard narrates a neat slide show of pictures from his book Phantom Shanghai. The book looks at the collision of old and decaying colonial Shanghai with the new glass-and-steel city rising from its ruins. Some shots look like Detroit, others like Vancouver’s Cole Coal Harbour and some suburban ones that could be on the edge of any Canadian city.
Photo by Poagao.
5 comments
“Coal Harbour”
Yes! I got the Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia version mixed up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cole_Harbour,_Nova_Scotia
Thanks to Spacing for alerting us to Greg Girard’s very sensitive photographic portrayal of Shanghai as it moves into a modern age, unfortunately with the loss of much of its human side. I was lucky to work in China in the early 90’s and can relate to the photos.
I believe that he recently had an exibition at one of the galleries in the Distillery. The composition and lighting of these special urban scenes is wonderfully dramatic.
Hi Shawn,
Not to nitpick but calling the pictures of older Shanghai colonial is mostly incorrect. Shanghai has essentially been a Chinese city (officially anyway) for it’s existence. Regardless, thanks for directing me to the link it’s quite excellent. I saw Greg Girard’s show at the Corkin Gallery in the Distillery and blew me away.
Cheers.
R
Whoops, just had a discussion about this with a friend, and looks like I’m 100% incorrect re: Colonialism in Shanghai. I’ll shut up now.
/hide
R.