Vanishing Shanghai I. An area of Hutongs or traditional low-rise housing sits between already demolished housing and new high rise developments behind. 2007

Vanishing Shanghai II. The writing on the wall reads, “Overusage of Electricity Prohibited”. 2007

Vanishing Shanghai III. Path through the rubble of demolished houses that are still inhabited before the construction of new buildings. 2007

Vanishing Shanghai IV. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is viable in the distance. 2007

I visited Shanghai in 2007 and the city was metamorphosing at breakneck speed perhaps due to the Shanghai Expo and the the Beijing Olympics of 2008. One area of the city that caught my imagination in particular was where the the traditional low houses known as Hutongs were being torn down to make way for the modern high rises. In between the new and the demolished buildings people lived amongst the rubble, the sides of their houses ripped open as if in the aftermath of shelling. As well as this melancholy contrast I tried to capture the strange emptiness and theatricality of this temporary part of the city.

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