Beijing Memories

Wang Fang

Wang Fang is at home in two different cultures: born and raised in Beijing, she has lived in Potsdam for some years. In Beijing Memories she points her camera at her home town, in which she increasingly feels like an outsider. Belonging and distance allow her to build up a very special tension. Wang’s photographs reflect the rapid transformation of Chinese cities and document the dramatic effects on their residents. Her works are characterised by changing environments in times of urban and social transformation. In her eyes, Beijing has lost its Chinese identity and is beginning to resemble modern metropolises in other countries. Wang’s works are not only depictions of urban modernisation: they also reflect the artist’s memories of once-familiar places whose soul she can no longer find. Familiarity gives way to feelings of isolation and rootlessness.