“<Amateur>” by ANQI
“This project was made when I was an amateur photographer(maybe I still am now). I didn't know so much about what photography can do, what photography is, but I did know that it feels extraordinarily good when I am with my camera.”
“Amateur,” a project by ANQI an artist from Shanghai, China. Her style breaks out from the norm of traditional photography. “She uses photography, painting and performance as her voice to invite fresh friends into her world. Her attempt to escape from the fixed definition of the universe lies at the core of all her works.” *The word ‘amateur’ comes from a Latin word ‘amare’, which means to love. To do things for the love of it, which is so perfect as the name of this project. “Since I started to notice that I’ve fallen in love with photography, it is necessary to do something with this relationship. That was the beginning of my first step to get closer to photography.” She uses her own photos to produce collage pieces and here she reshaped and redefined her photographs. Her work has a sense of freshness and experimentation. It’s an attempt to create something new from a pair of ‘freshman’ eyes that seeks joy and meaningful discoveries of her own unique potential. I want to leave you with this poem ANQI includes in her interview about this project.
A person with a camera, walking along the street.
The person could be anybody, and the camera could be any kind.
He/her saw a light.
He/her was trying to follow the light.
But the light is venerable and also shy.
So they started the game of seek and hide. In this game, nobody need to be a warrior, and of course, the camera is never a sword.
No worry about the marvelous history, because the only thing which matters is pure joy.
*quote from Mozart in the Jungle
