O Zhang, Xinzhou

“The West’s self-conscious fascination with

contemporary China reverberates through Zhang’s

portraits, which co-opt the brand-logo myth of childhood innocence and global harmony, making her endearing subjects alien, monstrous and threatening”

-- JJ Charlesworth (London art critic)

I planned 6 months in advance for the project. 4 assistants and 7 other adults were brought from the city to assist me in Xinzhou. In order to get an installation view, all girls needed to be there at the same time. The whole school stopped their classes for us. More than 50 girls participated in the project in various stages. The shoots lasted 9 hours non-stop, 80 rolls of films were used. 700 note books and pencils were donated to the school, and the children also got their pictures afterward.

Horizon photo series was taken in Xinzhou, Hubei, a remote village in central part of China. It is a very destitute area, many of the girls in the photos have never seen a camera before, so that their look are very different from the other girls in the rest the country