Shanghai, China

Artist's Statement

            In 2011, I had the opportunity to visit Shanghai for a month, as my cousin and his family had temporarily relocated there for work. Because they had lived there four years and had a housekeeper/cook and driver who wanted to tell you everything about Shanghai, I got to see China from a local – yet distinctly American –point of view.

            While the things I photographed would seem mundane and probably make most Chinese people wonder why anyone would photograph what I did (my driver shook his head many times), to me it was a new way of seeing how American my way of thinking is. Through the photographs, I invite the viewer to reflect on American and Chinese culture, evolving socio-economic class and identity.

            For example, some of the things I photographed include: Utility outlets. Items at grocery stores such as unrefrigerated eggs. Engrish signs, clothing and ephemera. Women holding hands not as lesbians but as friends. Squatty potties. Crossing the street and driving in traffic with many close calls. Cramped sidewalks and streets. Untrained optometrists selling $15 prescription glasses. Chinese people asking to take pictures with Americans and flashing the peace sign.

            Starbucks, McDonald’s and other American fast food proliferation. Eating at a German restaurant in Xintiandi, a section of the French Concession, in Shanghai, China.

Old and new buildings. Rich and poor neighborhoods. Signs written only in English in my family’s neighborhood (Pudong) versus the usual bilingual Mandarin/English signs. Apartment buildings with poles extending from under each window to dry clothes as space is limited. People walking around in their pajamas to flaunt their social status. Brand-name knockoffs such as Burberry scarfs with tags that say “Made in England” in plastic packaging that says “Made in China.” BMWs displaying new wealth coming into the country as a way for the nouveau riche showing it off.

            My goal is to give non-native viewers a glimpse of Shanghai not shown in popular media and to show Chinese people one American’s way of seeing China.