Huangpu River
© Jonathan BrowningChina's financial capital and most populated Chinese city, Shanghai, is split in two by the long Huangpu River. The river formerly romanised as Whangpoo, is a 113-Kilometer long river flowing through Shanghai that was first excavated and created by Lord Chunshen, one of the Four Lords of the Warring States. Starting at Dianshan Lake and ending at the Yangtze River Estuary, the city is dependent on the Huangpu; from shipping to power plant cooling. After living in Shanghai for several years I grew tired of the famous image of the Lujiazui skyline with the river below reflecting the city lights - an image you will inevitably see on any story or film about Shanghai. I was guilty myself - every assignment I got there would always be a wish list for this image. To take a break from that, and indeed my practice of working with a digital SLR I bought a Mamiya RZ67 medium format camera and commenced making different images of Shanghai. I wanted to walk the length of the river and photograph the places and people that work and live beside the river, revealing a city larger and more diverse than just the iconic and most famous tourist destination in Shanghai -The Bund (Waterfront) or the towering skyscrapers of the financial district.
click to view the complete set of images in the archive