Beijing

Photo documentation and reserch about differnt, old and modern aspects of Beijing.
In preparation for the full length cgi feature film ‚Lauras Star and the Mysterious Dragon Nian‘.
Street Photography · 2008 – 2010

… His passion for Beijing began in 2007 while doing photographic research on modern Beijing, which was gearing up for the Olympic Games at the time. All of the preconceptions that one has when arriving in the city are sweep away the moment one enters the city through one of the largest and most modern airports in the world.

Internationally acclaimed architects have left their signature here alongside unique imperial and classic Chinese architecture. The bicycle has long since given way to a mode of transportation that is developing toward electric driven vehicles, while others are still contemplating the sense of it. However, a must to experience in Beijing, that is if you don’t happen to have a photographer’s fascination with it, is when the haze of the sandstorms that blow in from Mongolia in spring reduces the city to silhouettes already during the day. And, in the evening, the sky shines in a myriad of colours seen normally only at twilight.

His last stay a month ago impressed upon him how rapidly society is changing there. How much particularly the younger generation is open to new lifechanging ideas and concepts. Beijing has at the moment one of the most innovative underground music scenes. In small clubs, like D-22, you can hear young, up and coming Chinese bands. The older generation wouldn’t even consider entering a bar instead of a teahouse. The Art District 798, a factory that was built 50 years ago with the help of engineers from the former GDR, has since become famous worldwide through avant-garde artists like Yue Minjun. What is fascinating is this interplay of moments in which the old culture mixes with the new and in the end you would never be able to get “home” in a taxi without the hotel’s business card with the name written in Chinese characters on it. A singular moment in the history of a country in which many new ideas are brought forward and one can also present his own and ask questions, to which at least the younger generation must find answers. The most charming thing that makes the city what it is are the wonderfully open, friendly, and happy people who are at the moment developing a completely new lifestyle and who love to laugh.

abstract of the article
Beijing · a culture in transition
Marquess magazine · 2010