Shanghai 360. by HGEsch

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1 Shanghai 360 by HGEsch

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3 The Big Picture Ulf Meyer HG Esch s Shanghai panorama shows a large city in photography like never before This summer you can experience big city photography in a whole new dimension: Instead of looking at flat images from the outside, viewers can now literally immerse themselves in the pictures (and so the cities shown). This is made possible by panoramic rotundas, which first emerged in the 19th century. This technique is now experiencing a renaissance with high-resolution, digitally composed large images by the German photo artist HG Esch. Already, his unique urban and architectural photography published in the volumes Cities Unknown, Mega- Cities and Cities and Structure has sensitised / tuned his audience to the fascination / appeal of the big cities in our time. This September 2013, HG Esch presents Shanghai, the Chinese metropolis, in one of his photo rotundas. Its skyline is symbolic for urban growth in the 19th and 20th century. Shanghai Rotunda The skyline of Shanghai will first be shown at the Art Masters in St. Moritz / Switzerland and then in New York, during the Shanghai-week ( September 16 21). The rotunda will be situated directly in front of the Rockefeller Center (opening on September 19th). This fascinating record of the booming skyline of Shanghai was photographed from the Jin Mao Tower. This distinctive tower generally serves as a landmark within the skyline, situated in the new district of Pudong on the opposite bank of the Huangpu River. However, in this panorama it is still visible as a reflection in the mirror glass façade of the adjacent World Financial Center. About the location For HG Esch s photography of the major cities of our time there is no better venue than New York s Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. The urbanistically unique ensemble of 21 high-rise buildings commissioned by John D. Rockefeller was built in 1931 to a design by Raymond Hood. It was a new type of urban architecture in the center of the metropolis. Esch s Rotunda is situated directly in front of the white limestone facades of the General Electric Building in the Art Deco style, which is both the tallest and the most famous building of the Rockefeller Center. The un-framed image About the culture of the panorama Walter Benjamin once called panoramas aquariums of distance and past. In his panoramas, HG Esch shows the unadorned beauty and ugliness of the great cities of the world. Interestingly, history has thus come full circle because panoramas (from the Greek word pan-horama or all views ) are a cultural phenomenon that emerged in the bourgeoisie in rapidly growing cities of the 19th century. Based at the intersection of art, entertainment and science, the panoramas offered an urban mass audience lasting impressions of landscapes and events. The colossal roundels soon entertained audiences in all major cities of Europe. Being a popular form of entertainment, panoramas are considered a first visual mass medium. The urbanization promoted people s curiosity of places and events in the wider world. Rotundas offered a journey for the eyes to unknown showplaces.. Due to their realism, panoramas are understandable for everyone. When the viewer s gaze moves freely across the surrounding screen, the perfect and astonishing illusion of being placed to the depicted location, is created. Panoramas are considered a democratic form of art because with their countless eye points they allow multiple viewpoints (so-called poly-perspective ). Since the culture of panoramas made it possible to take part in unfamiliar places and events for the first time, it is considered the precursor of modern cinema. The pleasure of seeing HG Esch rotundas offer viewers a platform in the middle, but are opened at the top. The special feature of this intense pictorial experience is its immersive environment: Spectators can literally submerge themselves in the pictures and -thanks to the high resolution- discover even the smallest details. The images are assembled on the computer and printed on large metal sheets. The long image strips provide 360 views. All viewpoints merge into one against the horizon; the circularity creates infinitely many focal points of view. The impression is immediate, comprehensive and deceptively real. Visitors can enjoy views as they wander, as if they were actually on the scene, in the middle of a forest of high-rise New York City-Manhattan and Shanghai Pudong! The rotundas of HG Esch are composed of 60 shots (20 each side by side and three on top of one another) and have been recorded within a very short period of time. HG Esch s photos are a provocation: The galloping pace of the worldwide growth of mega-cities has never been experienced before in the history of mankind: They are already home to two billion people. HG Esch s unique urban photography shows the cities as they are: oppressive and attractive at the same time. You think you can watch the new cities sprout. Mega-cities like New York or Shanghai grow into the sky and become a laboratory of the urban future in the 21st century, which is also called the urban century. Hans Georg Esch, born 1964 in Neuwied/Germany, completed a classic photo training. Since 1989 he has been working as a freelance architectural photographer for national and international architecture firms and is now one of the most renowned in his field. In addition to commissioned works he has an independent oeuvre of freelance artistic work, in which he opens his view to the entire city. His work is exhibited internationally and published in books such as Cities Unknown and City and Structure. Esch lives and works in Hennef / Stadt Blankenberg in Germany. Organized by The Information Office of Shanghai Municipality Hosted by Sponsored by

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