2013 | Another Season

Another Season: Zhang Jin Photography 

November 9, 2013 — January 12, 2014

Opening:  November 9, 4 p.m.    

Three Shadows +3 Gallery

Three Shadows +3 Gallery is delighted to announce the inaugural solo exhibition of Zhang Jin Photography “Another Season” after his winning on TSPA 2012.  The complete series of “Another Season” contains 81 prints, themed ancient silk-road landscapes in western China, which divided into two parts addressing concepts regarding “trace of present live” and “cycle of change”, the objects presented on the photo paper are the result of Zhang Jin observing heavenly heuristics over the course of his creative journey. There will be 40 representative prints to showcase at the exhibition.

Born in Sichuan 1978, Zhangjin received PhD.of Chemistry at Brooklyn Institute of Science and Technology, NYU.POLY, American. After graduation, he returned and settled in Chengdu, later throwing himself into photography. “Another Season” is the achievement of artist’s repetition on traveling to towns all over Shan’xi, Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai over the course of four years. Thought the loss of prosperity in silk road nowadays, Zhang Jin’s lens captured the unshakable civilization and belief imprinted to the live of mass, city and soil in the succession of years. Just like artist saying: there are also natural creatures, which persistently and simply exist everywhere regardless of the dynasty or nation changes over time, with the primitive strength born from basic instinct. Therefore, by removing trail of time and history, this intrinsic transcendental path of photography veers off into cognitive channels and creative spaces that are relatively unaffected by logic and the silent pursuit of knowledge. 

Zhang Jin’s countless landscape photographs are focused on simple and quiet places, such as misty fields, vast hills, ancient city ruins, and remote temples. However, Zhang does not simply take striking documentary photographs; very often, he uses a familiar calm to examine places that are not widely known, which give his works an unusual sense of harmony and poetry. The square compositions and gentle tones of these images prove his mastery of hand printing techniques. The works show Zhang’s independence in selecting scenes. As a result, he does not rely on staging; instead, uses unusual objects in their own spaces to create an even greater tension.

The tranquility and clarity of “Another Season” has darker implications. Zhang Jin’s thoughts and observations about his travels along the Silk Road are represented in his work; through his lens, he shows his respect for a simple, ancient way of life, and his black and white images are not cluttered by trends or restricted by time and geographic location. His interest in contemporary life and his exploration of the coexistence between man and nature means that the search itself has become a kind of faith.