Shanghai Subway Photo Gallery by Jennifer Zhou at pbase.com

photo sharing and upload

picture albums

photo forums

search pictures

popular photos

photography help

login

Jennifer Zhou | profile | all galleries >> Shanghai Subway

tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Everybody Has a Story | Shanghai Story | China on the Move | Story of Rachel | Shanghai Subway | Abstractions | Cityscape | The Mirror of My Soul | Landscape | Portraits: Family, Friends, and Strangers | Grandma's 90th Birthday | Grandma and her Brother: Divided Still | My Sky. 2003 | At the Gate of the Lion. 2003 | Greeting Cards

Shanghai Subway

comment |

Fernando Rodriguez		01-Apr-2006 17:45
Jennyfer, you're so talented photographer....! I love your themes and your point of view. Great Technique in every photo...! This serie is fabulous...! Voted, Fernando

koreanczyk		27-Jan-2006 11:52
An excellent gallery Jennifer. I love the way you portray the energy of the urban scape in these shots.

Leo		21-Nov-2005 08:55
One picture may not say much, but a lot of them put together, you've described the Shanghai Subway in many ways to the view. I hope you can add more pictures to it. It's a good topic, and you can develop some other interesting topic as well.

Chris Sofopoulos		03-Oct-2005 17:02
Very nice effect of moving people using blur.

Ana Carloto		08-Sep-2005 18:08
Amazing gallery! I love the way you've made use of the blur to make these photos even more expressive. Some very intersting angle also. Great work.

Stephen Chan		22-Jul-2005 12:03
I love this gallery. It really feels like taking a trip through the Shanghai Subway with a tunrstile image at the start and end of the gallery. The blurred images making it feel like the rush hour. Thank you Jennifer.

Xavier Cortina		10-May-2005 08:53
this gallery is amazing. I keep coming back to take one more look

antidote3		22-Mar-2005 09:04
this is simply a glorious gallery. very imaginative and nice story layout.

Hina Shimomura		12-Oct-2004 11:50
beautiful!!!

Phil Douglis		11-Oct-2004 20:03
You fixed it, Jen! The comments now read without scrolling. What magic did you work here? Phil

Leo		11-Oct-2004 05:49
I love the gallery~ especially when the photos were composed into a story full of powerful messages. Jen, I would much love to see a complete project build by you from scratch. Not that Phil's help is not needed, but some day you have to be on your own, try to rely on others as little as possible.

Jennifer Zhou		10-Oct-2004 15:25
Phil, Phil, Phil, my greatest photo editor! You really have magic to turn my separate photos to a such wonderful story, I can't even believe they are my pictures!! By working together as a whole story, these pictures become much much more powerful and meaningful than before. And yes that is exactly what I feel and how I wanted this story to be told. I wasn't able to put my ideas all together but you helped me and we did it!!! I really see the flow here, entering the hell, going through it and then running out the hell but stories never end here!! I already made my choice to convert all pictures in B&W before reading your comment, how wonderful we have the same idea! And when the first time I saw all the pictures in the right sequence and all in B&W, I knew I made a right choice and this will be my first real story in my life!! I am quite satisfied with it and more than satisfied with your editting work! Phil! Thank you, thank you so much!!! Happy Jen

Alexander Chen		10-Oct-2004 07:26
�n�[�S�ӯd��F�I�p�^��꦳�@�}�l�F�a�� ��k�V�ӶV�ͰʡA�u�O�b�H�ӤH��a�讳�_�۾��o�˪��ܭ��A�O�p��Q��̦۵M ��\|�P��K��I

Phil Douglis		10-Oct-2004 06:57
Jen, As you asked, I have rearranged this gallery into a photo-essay. I would use nine of these eleven shots. Drop the lady sitting by herself (#3) and the orange shoes (#10) -- they just don't work in the flow of this essay. My opener is #5. It represents the opposite of humanity -- blurred people hurtling through the gates, as if that guard did not even exist. It sets the tone for what is to follow here. These people are entering, in a way, the gates of hell. The second shot is #8. It is a transitonal image -- carrying us down into the bowels of the subway in a rush, yet your vertical format incongruously fights that flow and creates a sense of tension and frustration. Tension and frustration will be very much a part of this journey into the depths. This is the second image in a row that features blur as well. The third shot in the essay is #2 -- the last in a sequence of three blurred images. People fight their way onto the train, only to find that others are there before them. It is suffocating. We have entered a community of alienation, indifference, and above all, silence. The fourth shot in the essay is #4. We are now riding the train and nobody speaks. Nobody has a head. Just bodies and useless legs jutting out into space. It is truly a community of silence. (You might want to use that title for this essay! What do you think? "Shanghai Subway: Community of Silence. A photographic essay by Jennifer Zhou.") The fifth shot is # 9 --- the only act of humanity in the entire essay. There is kindness in the smiles on the faces of these two people. They do not speak, but they give a coin to this little child on his knees before them. The ride through hell ends with a smile and a gift. This "begging" shot is also a transition to the next two shots, which also involve people in need. The sixth shot is #6. It is the most abstract image in the essay. The ride is over and we find ourselves on the steps. This is the first in a sequence of three step pictures. A cup extends from the left into the picture, in exacty the same place as the hand of that little boy extended in the previous image. Only now that hand in need is ignored. As Marek puts it, this image contrasts the moving with the still, and the "haves" with the "have nots." It is a perfect transition to the next shot -- which will become the most important image in the essay. The seventh shot is the key picture in this photo essay -- "Shanghai Subway, 2004" It is probably the most significant image you have made in your entire life, Jen. If ever a photographer has captured the meaning of indifference, it was Jen Zhou on October 7, 2004. The community of silence, indeed! People come and people go here -- a distant couple even hug at the foot of the steps, yet this man crouching before us is left to crumple before us in pain. I have no idea what demons might tear at his heart, but your image has captured a searing moment in time that will live in my memory as long as any photograph of human suffering I have ever seen. It is the linchpin of the essay, the hinge upon which the story turns. This image is a silent scream. An exclamation point for this "community of silence!" The eighth shot in the essay is #1. Like the second shot in the essay, it is a transition shot. Once again we see steps -- for the third straight image. But now the steps are a sterile funnel of urgency. People come and go once again, and nobody ever acknowledges anyone else. It links the high point of the essay with its end. The ninth and final shot in the essay, which should leave the viewer thinking, and thinking hard, is #7. We end where we began, at the gates of hell itself. Our own ride through the community of silence and indiffernence may have ended, but it is only beginning for hundreds of others. It never ends. These hordes rush the turnstiles, pressing to get there first, to win, to beat their fellow humans at the game of life. It is a chilling, sobering reminder of urban stress and competition. Once again, the only visible human being stands at the back, ignored by all. Welcome to the Community of Silence. What do you think of this essay? This is what your images add up to for me, Jen. They say so much more to me now that they are sequenced cumulatively in this manner. Does the story I tell with them match your own feelings about this place? I don't want to put my ownthoughts and ideas into your mouth unless you feel that my approach here echoes your own intentions as a photographic artist. In other words, I am functioning here as your editor. And as your editor, it is my obligation to link the integrity of your vision with the needs of your audience. I feel that your images make much more sense as a story than as individual images seen as entities unto themselves. But that story i am telling must also be your story, Jen. I feel that arranged in this order, your images add up to both a catalyst to thought, and a powerful piece of social commentary. But I want to be sure that this is the story you intended to tell. I have told you before that i was in awe of your talents, Jen. After working on this essay for you, my admiration for your vision is intensified manyfold. These images really tell a story in a fresh and powerful way. The abstractions, incongruties, and human values you have given us here have made it so memorable for me, that I will never forget this editing experience. I felt as if I was actually down there with you and feeling what you were feeling. Above all, this essay is anchored in the power of your incredible October 7th image. By itself, it is a masterpiece of photographic expression. However as the keystone of this essay, it acquires a context that sharpens its pain and imprints it indelibly upon our conscience. I was struck with how clean and pure and powerful that picture looks in black and white compared to the greenish tone of the others. I know that you feel that this tone is appropriate context for these images, but on the other hand, I would ask you to convert the entire essay to black and white and compare it to how it looks in this greenish tone. My own preference would be all black and white. But you are the artist here, Jen. You are telling this story -- I have only interpreted it. I compare the process here to music. You wrote the score here, and I am conducting your music with my orchestra. if you, as the composer, want this music to play in a greenish tone, so be it. But this conductor has always preferred the crisp, clean, magic of black and white, which changes reality to thoughtful abstraction. Yet I am obligated to go along with whatever you decide.You, Jen, are the artist. I am only your editor. Thank you, Jen, for the honor of allowing me to create this arrangment of your symphony here. I await your comments with great anticipation. Phil

Phil Douglis		04-Oct-2004 05:03
This is now very well edited Jen. If you want to arrange it in essay form, let me know. Phil

Phil Douglis		16-Aug-2004 20:47
This could gallery, if effectively edited, could be an extremely strong photo-essay, Jen. If you are interested in learning more about the essay form, let me know. I'm here to help. Phil

Claudio Gatti		15-Aug-2004 16:54
Hi Jennifer, What a great gallery! Thanks for letting me find my way into you site. Your images tells stories load and clear. Very inspirational Claudio

Guest		21-Apr-2004 04:44
so nice... everything here. such sweet color tones and wonderful motion portrayed.

dazedgonebye		16-Apr-2004 14:39
I'm once again very pleased that you are on my favorites list.

m		16-Apr-2004 13:08
Jennifer, you're working hard and coming along in leaps and bounds. I love the fact that you won't compromise. Excellent gallery, cutting your own mould.

A Reid		16-Apr-2004 04:52
Great idea for a gallery. Very nice.

��֮ҹ		16-Apr-2004 03:51
��æ��ƣ��Ķ��

TechnoZoom		16-Apr-2004 01:24
Excellent job, Jenn! Creat tone, absolutely original and artistic!

TJ O'Brien		15-Apr-2004 15:38
This is an amazingly creative and dynamic gallery. I love Shanghai and I love your images of the city. Wonderful work.

click on thumbnails for full image