Chen Man born 1980 is a Chinese fashion photographer who has
produced numerous covers for Chinese and international fashion magazines and
today I got the chance to see some of her work in a gallery space.
As I walked through the doors I was greeted by a small
introduction and a picture and I could immediately tell it wasn’t my cup of
tea. With its large, colourful and highly edited pictures the gallery didn’t so
much impress me as disappoint. Colourful photo shopped, space women themes ran
throughout. With these strong colours and even stronger use of editing software
came an even greater feeling of despair as I tried to find some merit with in
the images as to why they be showcased.
Simultaneously exhibiting these images at the same time as
China pushes towards its first lunar mission can’t be a coincidence. It feels
these images are very pro China and perhaps she has been backed to such an
extent to do such images subliminally boosting the Chinese space program and
ultimately being used as propaganda.
Yes I have just slated this exhibition but there are a
couple of things I liked. For me the scale and detail of the images were
fantastic, some pictures taking up most of a wall. The crystal clear clarity
helped push out the vibrant colours contained within her photography. This
added a definite exciting and exuberant feeling to her images.
I really don’t mean to knock Man's images so badly but like
I’ve said before it just wasn’t my cup of tea. If you like big and bold fashion
imagery then you will be in your element looking at Man’s work.
