An Rong Xu | New Romantics: China

Photo © An Rong Xu | All Rights Reserved

Having just returned from Shanghai where I was giving a photo talk on travel photography following a street photography walk-about workshop, I was struck by the depth and breadth of talent found in young emerging Chinese photographers, who are passionate about their craft and eager to break boundaries. They are like "sponges" for ideas; new and old...and are quick learners when they need to be.

Working on some of my personal projects took me to a couple of old water towns near Shanghai, such as Qi Bao (commercialized), Jinxi (untouched) and Xinchang (preserved), along with Shanghainese photographers. 

The above photograph by An Rong Xu is of such a water town, and exemplifies the scenery that most of these relics have and provide to its visitors...whether local or foreign. It's part of his portfolio listed as New Romantics: China in which he provides us with his view of his native country.

He chose the title New Romantics to explain his feelings and categories which describe his photographic style; finding himself interested in the moody, the potential of moments, and colors.

An Rong Xu is a New York City based photographer and director. He describes his work as being rooted in the beauty of the ordinary, capturing a rich cinematic stillness in his photography and a passionate ethereal journey in his films. Xu has photographed and directed for publications and companies such as, The New York Times, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, GQ Taiwan, The History Channel, Instagram, airbnb, Underarmour, and Google.