©Andy Ryan
Andy Ryan left his job photographing the Central Artery Harbor Tunnel Project in Boston to go on a five-week exploratory trip to China in 1989. Landing in Tiananmen Square during the pro-democracy protests and resulting massacre, he became an unwitting photojournalist, feeding images to NBC News.
During the 20 years since, Ryan has continued to document China's cultural, political, and economic transformation.
A series of his photos, Architecture of the New China: Landmark Projects of Beijing, is featured at the Griffin Museum at Digital Silver Imaging in Belmont, MA, June 30 through September 10. An opening reception is June 30, 6-8 PM. A gallery talk with the artist is September 9, 7 PM.
"Modern Beijing is the result of harnessing vast resources of money, manpower, and engineering excellence to create unprecedented architectural feats of extraordinary luxury and opulence," says Ryan, adding he has documented this "perfect storm" in his images.
He says the three projects he showcases - The Grand National Theater, Linked Hybrid, and Beijing National Stadium -- "are emblematic of the new face of China and represent the crown jewels of its explosive expansion."
The Grand National Theater houses the National Centre of the Arts, including an opera house, a concert hall, and two theaters. It is literally an island, surrounded by water. The titanium and glass shell encloses public spaces. The $300 million complex took eight years to complete.
The Linked Hybrid is a 220,000-square-meter pedestrian urban, commercial, educational, recreational, and residential complex. Designed as "a city within a city," it uses multifaceted spatial layers and passages linking public and private space. A geo-thermal system providing heating and cooling makes it one of the largest green residential projects in the world.
The Beijing National Stadium was home of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Borrowing the design of a bird's nest, the building's facade and roof were stuffed with inflatable cushions used to weather and waterproof the complex.
Ryan began taking photographs as a young boy. Many years later, as a student at Boston College, he studied under photographer and filmmaker Charles A. Meyer. He also worked alongside Sports Illustrators photographers following football player Doug Flutie.
His first job in 1985 was with an international volunteer program, photographing volunteers working in ghettos in Kingston, Jamaica.
Ryan says his experience in China "galvanized my desire to create a visual voice and capture the awe and excitement of unprecedented, international, public and private projects. He has developed a matrix using multiple forms of visual media to systematically document the works. Ryan says his method "blends art, commerce, anthropology and archeology.
His images have been featured in Domus, Riba Journal, Architectural Record, and Scientific American.
The gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 5:30 PM, to mirror Digital
Silver's hours, or by appointment. Call 781-729-1158.
The Griffin Museum of Photography is open Tuesday through Thursday, 11 am - 5 pm; Friday 11 am - 4
pm; and Saturday and Sunday, noon - 4 pm. The Museum is closed on Monday. Admission is $5 for
adults; $2 for seniors. Members and children under 12 are admitted free. Admission is free to all
every Thursday. For more information, call 781-729-1158.
Digital Silver Imaging (DSI) was founded in 2008 as a dedicated black-and-white photolab. DSI
offers a unique printing process that provides beautiful fiber-based and resin-coated black-and-
white silver gelatin prints directly from digital files. Through a full suite of printing and
finishing services, DSI creates museum quality, continuous tone images, uniting the advances of the
digital world with the art and archival properties of true black-and-white printing. For more on
Digital Silver Imaging visit www.digitalsilverimaging.com or call 617-489-0035.(Map)
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