Huang Yunhe – OFOTO Gallery, Shanghai
From his first encounter with photography to the opening of his gallery…
Huang was born in Southern China when all photo agencies were owned and run by the Chinese government. His parents opened the first private shooting photo studio in 1982. Which such and inspiring environment, he started practicing his own shooting skills when in middle school and then studied graphic design and darkroom photography at the University of Fujian. He completed his studies in Shanghai at the China Academy of Art and the Shanghai School of Design. Between 2000 and 2003, he worked mainly as a freelance commercial photographer for magazine, advertising and corporate. In 2003, he opened his own photo studio in Mogashan 50, the timid art area that was then blooming in Shanghai. It was lacking a proper photo gallery – he says – so he decided to open OFOTO with one of his previous photography teachers in 2006. He now represents more than 60 photographers, 90% of whom are Chinese. To this day, there are 5 photography galleries in Shanghai, the latest, named C14, opened in April 2013 in the neighborhood of Tianzifan.
A photograph that has a special importance in his life…
Trip 135 – SHANXI 12 by Luo Yongjin
Huang received this print as a wedding present from his Shanghanese teacher of photography Luo. He says it is important for him this use of a western technique (photography) to “show the Chinese mind”. He particularly likes the use of the panoramic camera to shoot a vertical image and the continuity of the shadow outside of the wall and of the tree inside – “Some kind of Yin and Yang”.
Thank you Huang for your welcoming tea ceremony and for making the effort to have this all-English conversation!
Stéphanie de Rougé
