1、This weekend sees the start of the Caochangdi international photography exhibition in and around Beijings 798 art district. Dominic Swire recently visited to get a taste of what to expect.Workers prepare an art gallery for an international photography festival in the northeast of Beijing.My names Br
2、ian Griffin, Im a photographer from England. The reason Im playing a part in this festival is that I was invited by the director of the Arles Festival in the South of France, which is the biggest and most important photo festival in the world and he was asked to contribute towards this festival with
3、 a photographer and I was fortunate enough to be the chosen one. This environment here is world class, really. Its extraordinary, this gallery, its probably the finest photographic gallery in the world, near as damn it. The architecture, the design, the light.The Caochangdi photography festival work
4、s in collaboration with the Arles Festival in France, which has a history of over 40 years.My name is Jillian Schultz. Im the International Programming Director here at the 3 Shadows photography art centre and Im also helping to organize the Caochangdi Photo Spring Festival.This is our third year, w
5、e began in 2010. And each year weve seen more participation both internationally and domestically. So I feel like at the beginning of our project we were dealing with a lot of photographers coming from Arles to Beijing and now theres a lot of interest in photography springing up in Beijing itself an
6、d in terms of photography the scene itself in China, the 3 Shadows annual photography award is a great indicator as well. This year there were over 350 applicants which is the largest number that weve ever seen.Stefen Chow from Singapore is another photographer showing work at Caochangdi. He lives i
7、n Beijing and says the city helps his inspiration.I think in Beijing right now you really do have a lot of opportunities and a lot of ideas because living in Beijing you see a lot of issues around you and I think the whole melting pot of history, modernity, politics, and the worlds spotlight on Beijing really makes it interesting to be living here and experiencing that.The festival will show around 30 exhibitions in various galleries across Beijing. It runs until the end of May.For CRI, Im Dominic Swire.
