Some Days - Wang Ningde

Copyright Wang Ningde

Paris is one of those cities that you could discover something fabulous everyday without even trying. On the way to the chiropractor on Friday I discovered yet another wonderful photography gallery in the 3rd. In the heart of the 'rag trade' clothing industry is the wonderful Galerie Paris-Beijing. I had five minutes to kill before my appointment so dropped in.

There are rare occasions when you are totally carried away by images, when your mouth drops open in wonder, hypnotized as though you have never seen a photo before. Voila, that was me in front of Wang Ningde's wonderful images entitled Some Days. His sitters are lost in a trance somewhere between two worlds and so was I. Fifteen minutes late for my appointment!

In the preface to his catalogue Elsa Favreau describes his images beautifully.

"Their eyes are closed, their mouths half open, they doze, practically hypnostised between ecstasy and exhaustion; the landscapes are deserted. imagined or idealised. The photos in Wang Ningde's 'Some Days' series plunge us into daydreaming and bitterness, mid-way between regret and reminiscence of a given moment.

Wang Ningde was born in the seventies, the very time when China began "opening up"  to the outside world. He captures an image of a China undoubtedly contemporary, yet still carrying a weighted memory of the cultural revolution".

If you are in Paris check out Some Days which closes on the 7th September 2010.