Facing modernization and urbanization, how do photographers present modern cities and the possible problems they pose to the public? And how do they refresh their critical insights towards the great cities of the world?

Photographers face such dilemmas and social responsibility whenever they view cities through their cameras.

The 2005 Guangzhou Photo Biennial Exhibition, which is being held in this capital city of South China's Guangdong Province, encourages all photographers at home and abroad to apply this scholarly topic when they select works.

The biennial show, named "Review the City," is co-hosted by the Guangdong Museum of Art (GMA) and the Art Museum of the Guangzhou College of Fine Arts, and it will last until February 27.

The main parts of the photo show include four thematic exhibitions, namely "Cities of Dream and Urban Remembrance," "Significance of Scene Perspective," "Marginality and Dissimilation -- City as Reality" and "View of the Flaneurs."

A large number of photos produced by 38 Chinese photographers and 14 international photographers are displayed in venues of the Guangdong Museum of Art, the Guangzhou College of Fine Arts and the Time and Rose Square in the city during the exhibition.

The biennial show also includes five special international group exhibitions to display the development of cities around the world.

Altogether 166 works of 32 renowned French artists, including William Klein and Adre Kertesz, form the exhibition of "Paris of the Photographers." Another exhibition, named "Lights on France," is also being shown, aiming to demonstrate the embellishment of the urban environment through light.

In addition, the "City on the Move," which has been shown in over 20 big cities around the world, is also displayed in Guangzhou this time.

The photographic works, produced by French artists, cast a critical eye on the neglected spaces of daily urban life by recording the urban change on the move.

For this part, the Chinese photographers, A Niu in Guangzhou, Song Gangming in Wuhan, Luo Yongjin in Shanghai, Li Lang in Chongqing and Liu Zhijian in Beijing, take a new look at the movement of cities, one that casts light on the changes occurring in Chinese cities both in urban lifestyles and in the shapes and spaces.

An Israel photo exhibition, named "Western and Eastern Time," displays a number of works produced by five Israel photographers. An international photographers group, named "Tangophoto," also displays their recent works.

In addition, an international academic photography conference, which has attracted a number of renowned domestic and overseas artists, including Gu Zheng, An Ge and Alain Jullien, will be held during the exhibition.

"The biennial photo show aims at enhancing people's understandings of the relationship between city development and human beings," said Wang Hangsheng, director of the GMA.

"Since its very inception, photography has remained intimately connected to urban development and transition, and urbanization has markedly altered the lifestyles, ethics, senses, and psychologies of city-dwellers."

Through photos, people discover not only the essence of photography itself, but also the essence of the development of cities and human beings, Wang said.

Expo

Since "Humanism in China: Records of the Contemporary," a large-scale photographic exhibition held last year, the GMA had considered collecting and displaying the contemporary photographic works as principal research to modernization and urbanization.

According to Wang, the photo show of "Humanism in China" will also be held in five museums in Germany in May 2006 to March 2008, in a bid to enable the public to know more about the development of Chinese cities.

In addition, Wang is to make a proposal to the local government, suggesting the establishment of a photographic museum to better collect and display modern photographic works to the public.

"Besides the photo show, people should have more opportunities to understand the relationships between urban development and human beings through photos," said Wang. There are currently no photo museums across the nation," he laments.

(China Daily January 20, 2005)