Zachary Bako is an American photographer based in Beijing.
Voluntary Confinement: 2015
I feel it in my lungs even before I open my eyes. Each morning I awake to a feeling of disgust. The particulate matter is consuming me from the inside out, biting at my soul.
I voluntarily decided to transplant myself into this controlled chaos, to live under a protective mother. Walled in, shielded from truth, knowledge and blue skies.
A forced self sacrifice.
How much of myself have I lost?
The dislocation. The accepting of living conditions that mask the depression. When $$ became a new religion it destroyed the humanity around it. Firewall. Resisting the spread of fire within.
How do you disconnect and successfully reboot into a civilization that is simply unaware.
Infection: one world one dream: 2010
Within Infection: one world one dream, I am correlating the redevelopment of Beijing to an infectious
disease that continues to displace citizens while destroying neighborhoods and heritage.
These images examine the Chaoyang District of Beijing as this disease spreads.
Redevelopment: 2010
These images explore a section of the Chaoyang District in Beijing that is undergoing redevelopment.
Focusing on a commons means of transportation, the bicycle represents a tangible object in an ever-changing environment that continues to follow the path of modernity.
Hutongs at Night: 2012
Nightfall brings a new dimension to any environment, but specifically speaking of Beijing, it eagerly awaits the start of a new day with its inhabitants.
Specimens from Beijing: 2012
By constantly observing the environment, my surroundings tend to get stale over time, so I decided to create a new species of imagery. This series allows the viewer to partake in a visual dissection of man-made structures.
