The sky is a pale blue. Shanghai is draped in its usual grey veil. In the hotel room a sign reads: “Do not worry, Google has been disconnected in this country.” Censorship is everywhere in the New York of the 21st century. The street is filled with people. A group of them hurries towards the Exhibition Center, a Stalinist-Baroque building erected in 1955 to symbolize the bond between Russia and China. The fair is very attractive. For its first edition, Photo Shanghai has managed to draw some of the world’s best galleries while leaving enough space for local and experimental galleries.
What’s striking at first glance are the visitors. The styles are varied and eccentric; you could almost be in Japan.What’s even more surprising is how curious they all are. One feels like they’re discovering what photography truly is for the first time. Their eyes open wide, marveling. Almost all of them are carrying cameras, snapping away. (One wonders what exactly they plan to do with those pictures).
Outside it’s 30 degrees (86F) and 200% humidity. Despite the air conditioning, you can feel the heat inside the hall, and the non-laminated prints begin to curl. Among the stands one can encounter the entire staff of Christies, which has a brand-new Shanghai office, Martin Parr, Roger Ballen, Bill Hunt, David Fahey, Magda Danysz, curators and the directors of Chinese museums, who could honestly be mistaken for panhandlers. In China, more than anywhere else, the clothes don’t make the man and it’s nice that way. I don’t know any of the locals, but my friends from Christies and a few expatriates assure me that the major collectors are on hand. That’s good news for the organizers, and even better for the gallerists.
Unlike Paris Photo, which has too many stands and too many pictures, Photo Shanghai is human in scale: lots of galleries and pictures, but not too many. One can tour the entire fair in 2 hours, having seen lots of beautiful things without overdosing and confusing a Polidori for a Hoffer. The building’s great, the stands are great, the public is curious, friendly and unpretentious. Everything seems like “Photo Shanghai” is going to be a success, a fair you’d want to come back to. But let’s wait for the numbers from the organizers and gallerists to see if everything is as good as it looks.
Arnaud Adida
www.a-galerie.fr
FESTIVAL
Photo Shanghai
September 5 – 7, 2014
Shanghai Exhibition Centre
Nanjing West Rd, Jing’an
Shanghai, China
