Passing Varenna.

Across the Lake from Bellagio is another beautiful village called Varenna where the train station is. Every time I take the ferry, I see this little church in the middle of a huge mountain. I am thinking about getting up there next week.

Mint Ice Cream.

© Shen Wei

It is my fresh new re-start to do some drawings and watercolors. I used to love drawing and painting while I was in China. In the past 10 days, I have experimented with some drawings and watercolors. I hope this is something I will continue to do in the future and to intertwine them with my photography work.

Como Rain.

It rains very hard today. The mountains faraway become almost invisible, a different kind of stunning. The village is extra peaceful with the sound of raindrop and the deep gasp of the ferry boats; even the conversation between the local children and the local dogs are disappearing. A perfect afternoon for some sentimental drawings.

Hello from Bellagio.

The morning of Lake Como. © Shen Wei

Lake Sunset. © Shen Wei

It is the third day of my residency at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in Italy. Bellagio is in the heart of Lake Como, at the tip of the peninsular which divided the lake to the shape of a man. I sometimes get very distracted by the absolutely stunning view outside of my windows. Last night, I made a little drawing in my studio, it started very strong, then I kind of ruined it, and then I found a way saved it. This afternoon, as I was eating my lunch in a small rocky beach alone in the nearby village called Varenna, I really wished the time could just stop there.

Inside the Consorzio Di Bonifica

I regret not go to Savignano Italy to see the SI FEST (see details in last entry), but luckily so many of my friends have gone to see it and sent back great photos of the exhibition. The Global Photography 2009 exhibition was shown in this fantastic ancient architecture Consorzio Di Bonifica (Reclamation Consortium). I really love the characteristic interior of the building and the installation of the show. Below is some photos taken by one of the curators Massimo Sordi. Here is any article about the SI Fest by Christian Gattinoni, it is in French, but that's when Google Translate can step in.

Tomorrow I will also go to Italy for the Creative Artist Residency program at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center. I am very excited and can't wait to start working on my new project over there. Hope I will have some amazing journey to share at here in the next few month.

Photo: Massimo Sordi

Alone in the Fog.

Soldier, Chongqing. 2009 © Shen Wei

Street Cleaner, Wuhan, Hubei Province. 2009. © Shen Wei

Girl, Xi'an, Shannxi Province. 2009 © Shen Wei

The Yellow Mountain, Anhui Province. 2008 © Shen Wei

When I travel in China, I was always in and out of the fog, the good fog and the bag fog. I waited for three days to finally see the otherworldly Yellow Mountain flirted by the thin clouds. The city of Chongqing also seems to be permanently marinated in a nurturing moist, while Taiyuan provided me the less pleasant dusty haze.

I love fog - especially when I discover others similar to me, who just like to enjoy a moment of inebriation, alone.

Aperture Foundation Green Cart Commission

Aperture Foundation has released the news of their yearlong commission project about the historic NYC Green Cart. I am very honored to have been selected as one of the five photographers commissioned for this amazing project. I am also looking forward to working with four very talented photographers, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Thomas Holton, Gabriele Stabile and Will Steacy. It is an interesting, challenging and inspiring project. I cannot wait to start working on it.

For more information on the project and NYC Green Cart, you can read the official press release and this New York Times article.

Portrait of Youth

Installtion view of Portrait of Youth @ J&Z Gallery

Some portraits from Almost Naked are included in a group show Portrait of Youth at J&Z Gallery in Shenzhen.

The exhibition is curated by Azure Wu from the ArtChina Magazine, other artists in the show are Meng Yangyang, Tseng Yu-Chin and Zhang Ding.

The exhibition will be on view through August 23, 2009.

The Nude Orange Juice Drinker

Liao, Shanghai. 2009 © Shen Wei

Orange juice in China is not so much the "national juice" as in America. My generation grew up in China drinking water mix with sugar and a local Cola named Lucky. Even now there are too many choices of juices on the menu, orange seems to be the least popular. Watermelon juice is the orange juice in China, we stick with the national color! This guy who I have been asking for a photo session since January prefers an orange juice over a diet coke in a late afternoon in Shanghai. There is something so sensual about this movement of a glass of yellow liquid slipping into a naked body, both erotic and raw, almost transparent. The mattress was naked, too; something that I am always interested in.

Photograph nudes in China is a entirely different experience as in the US. People are extra cautious and nervous. It took me longer time to convince someone, especially a stranger to pose for me, full frontal is an extra work. In the Chinese Sentiment, I experiment the juxtaposition of these intimate bedroom portraits with the moody landscape and still life, intent to create a contrast between the public views and the private situation that perhaps only Chinese people can fully understand.

Beautiful and sweet.

Today I saw this subway ticket vendor machine in the Spring Street station on the E line. He stood there alone, seemed very patient and emotionless, his lips is plump and red. I have never looked at these machines ever. Why should I? I must unconsciously decided they are too ugly to deserve a look. I assume his friends who used to stand right by his side are retired or getting a face lift. Now that he is more visible on his own. He looks actually quite cute! With patches of color and everything, a little nerdy, a little tacky, but sweet.

My parents was visiting me in New York last month. They spent that whole time stuffing my refrigerator with all sorts of delish. My usually empty freezer now is fulfilled with homemade dumplings and stuffed tofuwraps. I especially love the handwriting on the aluminum foil by my mother, it is quite elegant and old-fashioned (writing from up to down is very ancient to me). The writing reads like a poem, even though they're just the instruction of how to cook what's inside. The dumplings are the work of art themselves, they make that orange package of whatever looks so guiltyly unattractive.