My driver took take me to Gaoxiao (Dutch town) and Luodian (Swedish town). Both excellent locations in terms of what I was looking for and the weather was ideal. As usual, it was tricky negotiating access into residential areas, but I’m getting better at negotiating this. Giaxiao is quite well advanced and pretty convincing in its reproduction, but with large areas still being constructed. Once I gain access to the gated areas in these towns I seem to be able to wander freely, even managing to scale the inside of an incomplete towerblock to take some vantage shots.
Then it was on to Luodian, a Scandinavian town in 85-degree sticky heat. Lakes and Father Xmas (!) for the ‘authentic’ northern European look, amounting to a bricolage of buildings and topiary. I feel I’ve been able to immerse myself in the work today, whilst shooting at varying scales allowing the work to open up. I generally start by photographing what is most obvious and then work back to explore other areas and maybe make more subtle connections. By mid-afternoon I walked towards the lake and met a bunch of Shanghainese on a picnic. They invited me to join them and they fed and watered me; sweet potato, beans from the pod and sugar cane straight from the plant, which was really needed in the heat. We took lots of photos of each other and it was funny to be on the receiving end of the camera for once. Later on I met two teenagers, one playing basketball and the other skateboarding. They said they loved Luodian for the peace and quiet. I suppose the opportunity to buy this silence – a silence I personally find insufferable – must be a big draw for many Shanghainese. Infact, the few Chinese people I’ve so far met are very positive about the towns, displaying none of the cynicism that I’ve read in the press.
It’s been a much more successful day and feel like I’m getting somewhere after the first week of adjustment to the city and working through my initial perceptions of the place. I now need to establish what I’m actually trying to do here and minimise distractions. My aim has always been to record these places in what maybe quite a simple manner, to place myself as the outsider that I clearly am. I still need to work on how best to achieve this.
