I am the Buddha, the Buddha is me
Featuring Leslie Shang ZheFeng Words by Nastasia Khmelnitski
Environmental, socio-political issues, and the meaning of the man today are the main topics photographer Leslie Shang ZheFeng depicts in his work. By observing the situation, ZheFeng reveals challenging moments in today’s society in China through comparison with the generations passed. In an attempt to find out more about the modern family, Shang ZheFeng decides to research his own family archives, old images, and VHS footage. To explore the effect of urbanization on today's man, he photographs construction sites and ruined buildings, presenting a painful dis/connection between the social layers of people inside and outside those structures. With self-portraits, we get closer to learning about the artist’s emotional background and self-awareness.
In this interview, we speak with a Chinese photographer Leslie Shang ZheFeng. We discuss his first steps working as a graphic designer and photographer assistant to becoming a freelance photographer. We present several of his recent projects, such as Cypress Slop, Shanghai Scenery, My Time, and self-portraits. With Cypress Slope, shot in 2020, ZheFeng researches his family roots going four generations back. The work becomes an emotional experience that allows him to understand and compare the life and struggle of his family to today’s world, “My grandfather's mother couldn't breastfeed, so the family found a wet nurse in the Cypress Slope village. When my grandfather grew up, he stayed in Cypress Slope and married there.”
‘I worked as an editor, designer, and photography assistant. I had no career plans and decided to resign two years ago to become a freelancer, starting to take images at my own expense.’
My Story
Hi ZheFeng, how were things going for you in 2021?
I spent 2021 in my hometown in the countryside of Shaanxi province. I had to leave my hometown for eight years to work in Shanghai. Now, when I'm back, I can be with my family every day, which makes me happy and relaxed.
Let’s start from the beginning. When did you start photographing, and what led you to decide this will be your profession?
In 2015, I started studying photography. My major was graphic design. I never graduated from technical secondary school as I started with social work. Later on, I worked as an editor, designer, and photography assistant. I had no career plans and decided to resign two years ago to become a freelancer, starting to take images at my own expense. Back then, my photos gained engagement and recognition on Instagram. Later, I learned about art photography locally and abroad through WeChat articles, so, gradually I started to develop myself on a more professional level. I have already produced several series. In 2022, I hope I will start earning from photography and get an opportunity to further develop myself in this field.
这一年我是在家乡陕西农村渡过的，离开家乡八年在上海工作，现在每天能和家人在一起，我感到很幸福很放松，而且每天都能吃到妈妈做的饭菜。
我在2015年开始自学的摄影，我的专业是平面设计，其实中专我也没毕业就进入了社会工作，修图、设计、摄影助理等都做过，也没有职业规划，两年前辞职后，成为了一名自由职业者，开始自费拍照片，当时照片分享在ins，受到很多人喜欢，后来通过一些微信文章了解到国内外的艺术摄影，慢慢的，往专业领域发展，直到今天做了这几个系列作品，新的一年希望自己可以用摄影赚钱，也希望未来有机会成为职业艺术家，当然，这是我的梦想。
‘From the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China to the founding of the People's Republic of China — during this historical evolution, it's worth reflecting on the hardships experienced by my family and parents.’
Cypress Slop
Cypress Slop, a project from 2020, carries the same name as your hometown and tells a story of your family, going four generations back, combining photography, frames from VHS videotapes, and letters. This was probably a fulfilling project that allowed you to get to know your roots on a deeper level. What were some of the facts you discovered that were of most importance for you?
My ancestors came from the big locust tree in Hongtong, Shanxi Province, 600 years ago. The great migration lasted from 1368 to 1418. My grandfather's mother couldn't breastfeed, so the family found a wet nurse in the Cypress Slope village. When my grandfather grew up, he stayed in Cypress Slope and married there. From the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China to the founding of the People's Republic of China — during this historical evolution, it's worth reflecting on the hardships experienced by my family and parents. Today, the government relocated a large number of factories to the surrounding countryside. Industrialization and garbage disposal caused environmental pollution in these areas.
比如我的祖先来自于山西洪洞大槐树，距今600年前大明洪武元年1368年至1418年长达50年的古代大移民。而祖父的身世是出生后因为母亲没有奶水喂养，所以在“柏树坡”村，找了奶娘喂养，成年后留在了柏树坡并成家立业。以及旧时代婚姻中对于女性人口的贩卖事实。回看历史，从晚清民国到新中国的成立，我的家族在百年中国的历史演变当中，父辈们所经历的苦难生活，值得反思。而当下我看到的是政府将大批工厂迁至乡村周边，工业化及垃圾处理造成了乡村环境污染的事实。
‘Photography on the topic of social issues is strictly censored in China. I still hope that more domestic photographers can record China's problems in this area.’
Shanghai Scenery
Your focus is on the research of the social and economic landscape, intending to speak about the current situation and hardships of ordinary people. With Shanghai Scenery (2020), you share the point of view of a single person looking through the window through the juxtaposition of skyscrapers and traditional houses. How do you think a photographer can affect the socio-economic situation and bring light to the current problems or the need for a change?
As a photographer, it is very difficult to influence the social and economic situation in China. For example, a Chinese photographer, Lu Guang, took many photos reflecting on China's pollution issues, disappeared, and his work was banned. Photography on the topic of social issues is strictly censored in China. I still hope that more domestic photographers can record China's problems in this area.
作为摄影师，在中国想要影响社会经济状况，很难做到，比如有个中国摄影师叫卢广，他拍摄了许多反映中国污染议题的照片，之后就被消失被禁声了。所以社会议题的摄影作品，在国内审查很严格，只允许有赞美的声音，不能批评。但如果可能的话，还是希望有更多国内的摄影师能通过镜头记录下这个时代的中国问题，文明的建立必将历经浑浊。
‘My self-portrait shooting is with the help of the camera and the mobile phone screen to control the process. It's actually me watching myself, just like Nam June Paik's TV Buddha.’
Self-Portraiture
The artist as a photographer and artists as a model are two distinct entities and two distinct approaches to relating a story. The experience you present in your work becomes very personal in terms of adding the layer of self-portraiture. How much is ZheFeng as a model different from ZheFeng as a person? What does self-portraiture help to discover about yourself?
The change of identity makes no difference to me. Someone once said that I am the Buddha, and the Buddha is me. And my self-portrait shooting is with the help of the camera and the mobile phone screen to control the process. It's actually me watching myself, just like Nam June Paik's TV Buddha. I remember the first time I recorded myself smoking naked in a hotel when I was 20. At that time, I was in a state of mental tension due to work pressures and sexual depression. Today, I watched this video again, AND I think I am crazy, abnormal, soul and body together in the self-portrait.
身份的转变对我来说没有区别，有修行人曾说，我就是佛，佛就是我。而我的自画像拍摄是借助相机与手机屏幕联机观看拍摄。其实还是我在看我，就好比艺术家白南准的作品，电视佛。我还记得20岁第一次在酒店裸体记录自己的抽烟过程，那时的我因为工作压力与性压抑，导致精神一直处于紧张状态。今天我又再次看了这个视频，我想自画像里的我，疯狂，变态，灵魂与肉体做到了统一。
The Mao Era
With your series, My Time, you work on the juxtaposition between the Mao era and the current socio-political scene in China. The work is performed through the stitching of old and new photographs emphasizing parallels. What are the questions you ask yourself that help you build the narrative of this series?
For example, is the recent decision to designate the Nanjing Massacre as a National Memorial Day a sincere commemoration of the victims or a political show?
A female teacher in Shanghai was fired after her students recorded her talking about historical truth in class. Is this a microcosm of the Cultural Revolution?
In the 1980s, party members were called on to take the lead in having one child, but now they are required to have three because the country lacks a labor force and has a negative population growth. So for an individual, is it more important to serve the interests of the party or have the right to decide about one’s own childbearing?
Hundreds of applications, such as the Douban app, are removed from the stores. Are they really breaking the law, or is it to strengthen ideological control of people's minds? And when I was collecting historical photos, I saw some slogans, such as an image of a woman shot with a gun and writing on a wall "Actively develop mass national defense sports." or a child pointed a stick at a piece of text "Study hard and go to the party every day."
比如最近发生的事，将南京大屠杀定为国家公祭日，是真心纪念死难者，还是一场政治秀？上海一女老师因为在课堂探讨历史真实性言论，被学生录频举报后开除，此因言获罪、举报，是不是文革的缩影呢？80年代号召党员带头生一个孩子，现在要求生三胎，因为国家缺少劳动力，人口负增长，那么作为个人，是符合党的利益重要，还是决定自己生育的权力重要？
下架豆瓣APP等上百个应用程序，是它们真的触犯了法律，还是为了强化意识形态控制人们思想？ 还有在我搜集历史照片的同时，看到一些标语，比如：一女子在写有“积极开展群众性的国防体育运动”的墙面标语下持枪射击，一小孩拿棍子指着一块写有“好好学习天天向上党”的牌子，千万不要忘记阶级斗争，爹亲娘亲不如党亲等。
‘The theme of my latest project is Theatrical Buildings. I'm photographing theatrical relics left in cities and villages in various regions of China, as well as the collection of portraits and historical photos of actors to explore the historical evolution of theaters in China.’
A Sneak Peek
Could you provide us a sneak peek into the project you’re currently working on or some of the themes in development?
The theme of my latest project is Theatrical Buildings. I'm photographing theatrical relics left in cities and villages in various regions of China, as well as the collection of portraits and historical photos of actors to explore the historical evolution of theaters in China. The role of literature, art, and politics, such as The White-Haired Girl and many other revolutionary model operas performed in theaters after the Cultural Revolution.
