Yan Jiacheng

On May 9, 2025, Fotografiska Shanghai will present A Brief History of the Ordinary, the first solo exhibition by emerging Chinese photographer Yan Jiacheng, supported by META MEDIA and its acclaimed art publication ArtReview. Through three interrelated series — Night in the Suburbs, Living in the Suburb, and This is a Long Story—the exhibition explores overlooked narratives and human textures embedded within China’s rapid urban transformation, offering a quiet yet powerful counterpoint to dominant images of progress.

The Marginal as Epic: Finding the Extraordinary in the Everyday

Yan’s photography is deeply rooted in his personal experience and daily encounters. With the sensibility of a "human observer," he turns his lens toward the lives of ordinary people, liminal urban spaces, and fleeting moments of collective presence. Rather than chase grandeur or spectacle, his practice embraces slow observation and quiet precision—gently peeling back the surface of modern life to reveal the contradictions and poetry hidden beneath urban development.

The three featured series offer distinct yet interconnected perspectives, forming a subtle but layered portrait of contemporary existence:

- Night in the Suburbscenters on life after dark in China’s so-called “sleeping cities”—suburban zones where public space is scarce and informal gathering becomes necessity. A riverside footpath transforms into an accidental community hub, where residents walk dogs, exercise, and burn offerings for the dead, revealing a raw and truthful urban script.

- Living in the Suburbdocuments Yan’s observations after relocating to Zengcheng, a peri-urban district on the outskirts of Guangzhou. Here, the tension between policy, time, and terrain creates a rugged, constantly shifting atmosphere—a limbo between urban and rural realities.

- This is a Long Story reassemble fragments of urban life into stitched photographic tapestries. In Everyone Is a Photographer, repeated depictions of people taking photos humorously interrogate the dynamics of seeing and being seen, raising deeper questions about the politics of image-making and visibility.

A Brief History of the Ordinary captures the essence of Yan Jiacheng’s practice—an unfinished urban diary composed of frames that read like footnotes to an age in flux. In the most unassuming corners, he uncovers the emotional and social undercurrents of a transforming society.

Meta Media | ArtReview: Elevating the Voice of a New Generation

As a special partner for this exhibition, Meta Media and its renowned international publication ArtReview have featured Yan Jiacheng as part of this year's “Future Greats” in ArtReview’s February issue. Meta Media and ArtReview have long been committed to discovering emerging artistic practices and amplifying their influence through a global network. "Yan Jiacheng’s work combines social sensitivity with formal experimentation—it’s precisely the kind of perspective contemporary photography needs," says the President of Meta Media’s art platform and publisher, Cao Dan. “Through this collaboration with Fotografiska, we hope to bring these 'marginal epics' into broader public view.” Coinciding with the exhibition opening, the 10th PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai, organized by Meta Media, will commence at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, marking the launch of Shanghai International Contemporary Photo Festival, also founded by Meta Media.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Yan Jiacheng is a photographer based in Guangzhou. Since 2018, his practice has focused on close observation of everyday life, approached through a conceptual lens. His work often employs collage and re-composition to explore contemporary social phenomena and document urban life and transformation in China. He is particularly drawn to hidden spaces and overlooked individuals within the everyday, using personal experience as a starting point to reveal suppressed realities and emotions.