SIMON VANSTEENWINCKEL
WUHAN RADIOGRAPHY
Published by Light motiv, 2022
Book size 21 x 31 cm
Pages 100
Softcover
Languages French, English, Chinese
First edition
ISBN: 9791095118213
"For some people, curiosity killed the cat. For others, it is one of the greatest qualities, the very essence of photography. During lockdown I wondered how to stay curious, to keep traveling, looking and reaching out to others, to carry on advocating openness rather than withdrawal into oneself. While being confined in my living room, I opened a window on the world via Google Street View which is an incredible tool that allows us to travel through almost the entire planet. all discussions, such as an invisible but omnipresent monster. And it came from somewhere: Wuhan, where it all began, is apparently the place of origin of Covid-19; that former little-known city worldwide has become the receptacle of all rumors, accidentally thrown under the spotlight. images in the book by directly photographing my computer screen during those virtual wanderings in the city I used the Washi F film which is a medical x-ray film originally used to diagnose lung diseases. By chance, I noticed that the flash of my camera reflected on the screen had created a luminous halo hovering above the city and its inhabitants like an observing star. I like the idea of ??misusing a tool, of shaping a personal and distorted X-ray of one place like a fantasized and poetic version of it, a distorted vision, yet also acting as a certain form of exorcism."
- Artist's statement
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"For some, curiosity is a bad thing. For others, it is one of the greatest qualities, the very essence of photography. During the lockdown period, I asked myself how to persist in being curious, in traveling, looking and reaching out to others, in continuing to advocate openness rather than withdrawal. From my living room, I opened a window on the world via Google Street View, this incredible tool that allows us to travel almost the entire planet.
The epidemic was at the center of all discussions, an invisible but omnipresent monster. And it had an origin: Wuhan, where it all began, the center of the Covid-19 epidemic, a little-known city and receptacle of all rumors, unfortunately thrown into the center of the news. The images in the book were created by photographing the screen directly during my virtual wanderings in the city. I used Washi F film, a medical X-ray film initially used to diagnose lung diseases. By chance, the flash of my camera revealed a luminous halo hovering above the city and its inhabitants like an observing star. I like this idea of diverted use, like a personal and distorted X-ray of this place, a fantasized and poetic image, a truncated vision, but also a certain form of exorcism.
- Words from the artist