Guannan Li - Glimpses of China

Thursday Spotlight: About ‘China Glimpses’ – words by Guannan Li:

China Glimpses is a collection of street-photographs taken in and around China from 2017 – 2019. Most of the places are quite personal ones that I’ve revisited many times, others I came across in passing. The paper horse, for example, is from a shop specializing in tomb supplies and it's very close to where my grandparents are buried. The man with the glasses and plastic bags – I call him “Mr. Cats” because he brings fresh drinking water and food for stray cats to a nearby campus twice a week. He tells me he has been doing this for over a decade. Then there are images that just "feel" very Chinese to me – like that half-hidden Mahjong garage – venues like that are now forbidden, but continue to exist, often hiding in plain sight – on that particular day, it was simply too hot to keep the gate closed. To me, these images represent a China that is dreamy, deeply human and fleetingly surreal at times.