Phantom Shanghai

by Greg Girard, William Gibson (Foreword by), Leo Rubinfien (Introduction)

“Shanghai—a city in the process of dismantling its history to accommodate China’s new cosmopolitan vision of itself.”—Greg Girard As Shanghai modernizes and seeks acceptance as an international city, buildings and neighborhoods that were once preserved simply by lack of intervention are now being purposefully demolished. Phantom Shanghai is a spectacular look at a Shanghai that won’t survive the vision the country has for itself. For the past five years, Greg Girard has been photographing the city’s buildings, shops, homes, and neighborhoods. This stunning photographic journey is a look at present-day Shanghai, where politically inspired neglect meets politically inspired development. Greg Girard is a Canadian photographer living in Shanghai since 1998. Largely self-taught, he combines anthropology with a lyrical realism in his work. He is represented in North America by Monte Clark Gallery in Toronto. His editorial work appears in publications such as TIME, Newsweek, Fortune, and The New York Times Magazine. William Gibson is an American-born Canadian science fiction author. He has been called the father of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction. He is credited with coining the term “cyberspace.” His first novel, Neuromancer, has sold more than 6.5 million copies worldwide since its publication in 1984. He is also responsible for Pattern Recognition and the screenplay for Johnny Mnemonic.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, China, Art, Art Design

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Based in Shanghai, Greg Girard is a photographer working to record the changes taking place in China and across Asia for leading editorial and corporate clients.

Born in Canada in 1955, Girard grew up in Vancouver. In 1986 he began his photographic career at Asiaweek, covering news and features in Hong Kong. Between 1987 and 1997 Girard photographed on assignment across Asia. In 1993, with co-author Ian Lambot, he published the book City of Darkness, a document of the final years of Kowloon's "Walled City," a Hong Kong high-rise that was home to 35,000 people.

In 2002, in collaboration with fellow photographer Fritz Hoffmann, Girard launched the picture agency documentCHINA, an online archive specializing in contemporary photography from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Girard's photographs have appeared in publications such as Time, Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes, Elle, Paris-Match, Stern, the New York Times Magazine, and others worldwide. His work has been exhibited in galleries in South Korea, London, Germany, Helsinki, and New York.

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning stuff, no wonder Gibson likes it so much. Says Shanghai but could be anywhere.

[Claudine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a photographic coffee table book. The photos stirred up my thoughts on urbanization, history, progress and social issues. It's a glimpse of people's everyday lives in a decrepit & historic area of Shanghai contrasted to modern high-rise Shanghai. I do wish there was more text to describe the back story of the photos. And the photos make me want to learn what happens to these people that are displaced by the demolition of old Shanghai.

[Jinnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

构图都很棒！

[Jamil · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Something slicing across accretions of cultural memory like Buñuel's razor...I think of the line of dawn rushing through desert, causing stones to explode." - William Gibson, from his introduction.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may be a long time before I can pick my jaw up off of the floor. Highly recommended.