RPS GRANT REVIEWER, STATON WINTER ON QIAN ZHAO, THE 11TH RPS GRANTEE
Zhao Qian, sees things a little differently. The recipient of the 11th RPS photography grant, has a wonderful view into what appears to be the mundane, but could also be a connection to another dimension.
The slightly off-kilter images are evocative of the old American tv show the Twilight Zone. With people seeming to appear out of mist, a floating shark, a glimpse into a dressing room, an unfinished meal on a park bench, plastic covered hills, a glowing building on a distant shore, all connect to something odd, but interesting. Asking the viewer to look again, to step closer, to investigate what might be there in that other dimension.
Zhao Qian, who hails from China, has an interesting view, a great eye, and wonderful sense of color that will no doubt grow in time. His capturing of the ordinary invoking something “other” somewhere else is a pleasure to view, demanding questions that may not be answered.
View his work with an open mind, and smile, because you could now be in the
twilight zone of Zhao’s world.
Staton Winter
Date: July 29, 2015
Washington, DC