CHEN NONG

In his ‘Three Gorges’ series, we witness a gathering of locals uprooted from their homes, standing defiantly against an almost mystical watery backdrop. In the ‘Yellow River’ series, a lively peasant rebellion–a seeming cast of thousands–forms a throng in the foreground, full of movement and passion, echoing the dramatic river behind them. These are haunting images, suggesting at once early photography and romantic painting, documentary work and a more strikingly contemporary aesthetic.

In the more mythical ‘Water Lily’ works, we see a dreamier side to the artist. These richly coloured nocturnes conceal liliputian humans nestling peacefully in fields of giant water lillies. As with much of his work, they recall carefully lit stage-sets, or stills from an early colour movie.

Chen Nong, 46, is in a sense more filmmaker than photographer. Each of his series is an epic undertaking. Once he has the seed of an idea, and has sketched it out in detail, the artist then goes on a pilgrimage to far-flung parts of China to find the appropriate location to shoot. There, he builds a set and assembles his cast–often comprising willing volunteers and friends–in order to realise his precise vision.

Using a 110-year old antique camera, the photographer shoots in black and white, in order to print on silver gelatin paper. The post-production process is equally elaborate. After he settles on a small selection of images, he hand-paints each one in a close range of colours to produce a vintage, burnished effect. The result is super-realist, highly stylised, at times even verging on the expressionist.