Feng Li
White Nights in Wonderland
With the Chinese New Year, Fotografiska opens an exhibition by photographer Feng Li titled "White Nights in Wonderland", inviting visitors to experience modern society through a surreal spectacle. Internationally acclaimed street and fashion photographer Feng Li has developed a distinctive visual language — his photos stand out in a world saturated with images for their unique ability to embrace irony and highlight the humor in everyday life.
The "White Nights" series is set against the backdrop of modern cities, focusing on the gritty, messy, and shamelessly artificial playgrounds of the streets—elements often cropped out in photos taken with smartphones. His vivid, silent images capture fleeting, mysterious moments and the absurdities of everyday life, evoking complex emotions under the bright glare of a flash that distorts the sense of time and blurs the boundary between night and day.
Feng Li skillfully employs technique, timing, composition, light, and color, with his signature mastery of the flash. He has a unique ability to notice and capture peculiar and surreal moments, weaving them together with explosive colors and evocative details.
The exhibition features photographs taken over the past twenty years, including previously unpublished images and some well-known works presented in a new context. The exhibition is divided into three sections with subtitles: "White Nights","City Express", and "What is Fashion?". Each section highlights significant stages in the artist's creative journey.
The exhibition at Fotografiska is curated by Holly Roussell, a curator, museologist, and art historian. It was first presented during the opening of Fotografiska Shanghai in October 2023.