Up & Coming: Phillip Reed

China: Phillip Reed

Chinese officials saw the Olympic Games in Beijing as more than just a sporting event, it was the platform for China to announce itself on the world stage as an emerging super power. The raw enthusiasm that greeted the Olympics in Beijing couldn’t have been more different from the cynicism encountered on my return to London ahead of the 2012 games.

I wanted to hint at the idea that China’s rapid transformation is a sort of Cultural Revolution of our time. I have incorporated elements of propaganda posters as a visual reference. I wanted to reflect a vision of a country looking to the future with nothing but pure enthusiasm and confidence.

All images are copyright of © Phillip Reed

My images focus on the youth of the nation and its rebirth as a country. In China everybody talks about the future. China now feels like a young nation, ironic if we consider its 5000 years of civilization and tradition.

Phillip Reed is a talented photographer with a sublime eye to capture the interaction of the city and its inhabitants. His work focuses on the effects of environment upon the experience of the individual.

His images offer a unique vision of life in big cities, in a perfect mixture between street and stage photography. His final-year project HOME, winner of the year’s Hotshoe LCC student award 2010 is the perfect example of this.

He is currently working on an ongoing project called In-between; a photographic collaboration between him, based in London, and with his identical twin brother Anthony, who lives and works in China.

http://www.phillipreed.co.uk/