Perspectives: Hai Bo

The speed and scale of change in contemporary China has been registered by a number of artists exploring the country’s cities and industrial remnants. In stark contrast, Hai Bo (born 1962, Changchun, China) looks to the desolate plains of northeastern China. Trained as a painter, Hai Bo took up photography in the 1980s as he became captivated by the camera’s ability to stop time and evoke memories. For over two decades, he has been returning to his hometown in Jilin Province to capture the people and places of his youth, creating deeply moving portraits of resilience amidst the growing isolation of rural China. Featuring five stunning, large scale photographs from his Northern Series, this exhibition offers moments to enter the vast panoramas of the artist’s childhood memories, observe the subtle changes of nature across seasons, and encounter the gentle transience of life.