Nadav Kander: Yangtze – The Long River @ m97 Gallery, Moganshan (Previously Flowers Gallery Shoreditch)
Last month, just as it was closing, I managed to catch Nadav Kander’s epic Yangtze – The Long River exhibition at the excellent photography gallery m97, in Moganshan art district (I had previously visited prior to christmas in Shoreditch, London). Like any great photographic journey, this open and honest documentation of the physical and socio-cultural changes occurring along the world’s greatest river is both awe-inspiring and slightly disquieting in equal measure. Kander, who recently achieved great acclaim for his Obama’s People collection, manages to capture the sheer pace of change in the built environment while maintaining the ethereal beauty and magic that have long characterised artistic impressions of the river. One in 18 people on the planet live within the reaches of the great Yangtze, and Kander does extremely well to capture the juxtaposition of the human scale versus the mountainous skyscprapers, bridges, cranes and highways that tower over it. Through an otherworldly haze of concrete of dust, the work asks important questions about the challenges and opportunities that the communities in the shadows of these developments are experiencing.
Just as technological advances and opportunity led young photographers to travel west in 50s and 60s America, it would seem China’s west is the new frontier for young Chinese photographers to discover and document their country. Hopefully Kander’s work will both inspire these young artists and bring global attention to a growing body of work.
You can see Nadav Kander’s Yangtze, The Long River and his other work at http://www.nadavkander.com/
