Photopaper 05
Zhang Xiao

I once heard a writer giving advice to friend. She said that when addressing big subjects, generalized statements generally fail, and that you can say much more with a small story.
It’s been 15 years since I lived in Beijing, but I stayed long enough to at least start to get a sense of the place and the people. Yet most of the photographs and art that come out of China don’t really depict what I experienced on the street, wandering through neighborhoods, taking buses around the country, talking to people. Over the years, I have only met a few artists whose work truly represents what life in modern China feels like. The paintings of Liu Xiao Dong and the photographs of Zhang Xiao come to mind. It is fitting that the Chinese word “xiao” means “small.” Zhang Xiao’s work is not monumental or political or controversial, at least on the surface. Nor is it naïve or simply bucolic. It is honest and layered, and on a human scale. It depicts beauty and flaws equally.
I have respect for artists who work day jobs. The poet William Carlos Williams was a pediatrician; photographer Ralph Eugene Meatyard was an optician; author Lucia Berlin was a maid. In many cases like these, the artist’s day job helps them hone a sense of empathy that influences their artistic output. Zhang Xiao made these pictures while working as a staff photographer for the Chongqing Morning Post. He carried two cameras — one for the paper, and one for himself. The result is this series of pictures he calls “They.” – Jason Fulford.
(source: https://photopaper.world/portfolio-item/05-zhang-xiao/)

About the Journal
PHOTOPAPER is a new kind of monographic photo publication with a continuously changing editorial team of international experts. These guest editors name photographers or photographic projects which they would like to present to an international public. PHOTOPAPER features this work in single monographic issues of 16 or 32 pages. The main idea is to make high-quality printed photographic work accessible to as many people as possible by producing the final publication at a reasonable price. Therefore, the production process is reduced to a minimum while at the same time using high-end printing technology and a nice paper. Published on a quarterly basis.
photopaper.world
(source: https://photopaper.world/about/)

About the Publisher
The Fotobookfestival Kassel is a charitable foundation that has been engaged with the artistic medium of the photobook and has presented it in all its facets, since 2008, in a festival program of international standing. The annual festival shows works by renowned artists and promotes established and emerging talents, publishers, designers, printers, curators and booksellers on an international platform. It was the first festival of its kind dedicated to the photographic book and has founded two novel book awards: The KASSEL DUMMY AWARD for the best photobook mock-up of the year has awarded emerging talents a complete photobook-production since 2010; the KASSEL PHOTOBOOK AWARD assembles the best photobooks of the previous year nominated by international experts in the field. Books entered for both awards are showcased regularly in travelling exhibitions at international festivals and photography events. These two awards are unique in their formats and have been role models for other international festivals and events.
fotobookfestival.org
(source: https://fotobookfestival.org/fotobookfestival-kassel/)