Zooming in on China

By Jenny Hammond  |   2008-6-6  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

HE began as a fashion photographer working with the leaders in the field in New York. Now James Whitlow Delano turns his lens upon China, writes Jenny Hammond.

Everyone living in China has their own image of the country, from the Great Wall and the Forbidden City to the backstreets where locals play mahjong and washing hangs from the windows.

One unique collection of images has now been captured in an exhibition of pictures taken by photographer James Whitlow Delano showing the China of years gone by.

"Empire: Impressions from China" is a solo exhibition by the Tokyo-based American photographer of 20 black-and-white images of China all taken between 1994 and 2004.

"The 'Empire' series takes a look at the remnants of the past that we are losing or have lost," Delano explains.

His grainy images show everything from the construction of the Three Gorges Dam in Chongqing, peasants on a steam boat to an infant in the arms of its grandparents - all set to the backdrop of his travels throughout China.

Always using film to capture his pictures, "I have developed my style with film, so although someday I might move to digital I prefer film as there is something organic about it."

Having photographed throughout Asia, from Afghanistan to Myanmar, India to Indonesia, the Washington DC native spent half his life in California and half in New York before moving to Tokyo 15 years ago.

Starting as a fashion photographer, "because I followed some bad advice that I would not be able to make money from the kind of work I am doing now."

Working under the auspices of Annie Leibovitz and Joel Meyerowitz, the seven years in fashion were not wasted, he says.

"In fashion you have to produce every day and watching people such as Annie and Joel work made me learn a lot," he says.

However, in 1993, the American decided to change direction and pursue a more documentary style of photography. "There came a point in 1993 where it was time for me to move on."

Moving to Japan, he started working as a freelance photographer with magazines and publications such as Le Monde II, The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek and Time. One year after moving to Japan, Delano visited China (Beijing and Shanghai) for the first time.

China is an amazing place and constantly remains fresh, he says, "although it was quite different then, with no Internet, cafes, mobile phones and very few cars on the streets."

Having since visited China more than 40 times for both personal and professional assignments, "what I try to capture in my pictures is an 'out-of-the-corner-of-my-eye' view which is why I use a Leica M6 camera as it is fast, light and durable," Delano says.

"I try to bring back what is unique in a country. Like through the work of Robert Frank, I want to show what is iconic about a country in a relevant way. What would be missed by photographers who were born in the same country," he says.



Date: through June 18 (Tuesdays-Sundays), 10:30am-6:30pm

Address: 2/F, 97 Moganshan Rd

Tel: 6266-1597