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Jennifer Zhou | all galleries >> Galleries >> China on the Move > Invisible smiles, Shanghai, China, 2006

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20-AUG-2006

Invisible smiles, Shanghai, China, 2006

Canon EOS 10D
1/640s f/3.5 at 50.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto

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Jennifer Zhou, 2004 Copyrighted, all rights reserved.

May		24-Feb-2009 03:05
I like picture that tells a story. A contrast of some kind. To get the picture, I believe you must have been very very patient at a certain spot. And when the right moment enters the frame, you snap it for eternity.

Ashley Hockenberry		04-Jul-2008 01:29
AWESOME !!

John Sims		04-Mar-2007 10:57
they have gone a long way !

Guest		21-Feb-2007 19:03
Such a nice picture .... The contrast between the old lady and the family is so intriguing... It reminds me of a picture that i took in Poland last year (http://www.pbase.com/rafvansitt/image/72629280 ). But i think yours has something very special... V

Phil Douglis		07-Oct-2006 18:34
****A brilliant image, contrasting softly focused idealization (western models, happy family ) with sharply focused reality -- Chinese woman whose life may or may not be as complete or happy as the advertisement implies. It is refreshing to see you draw a contrast with an advertisement that is not blatantly selling via overt sexual attractiveness, which seems to prevail these days. Yet the old Chinese woman does not even see the wholesome western family behind her. She is oblivious to them, just as they are to her. They represent a world that never was and never will be for her. A brilliant image, Jen.

Guest		23-Sep-2006 17:16
huge oddities...

Tía		19-Sep-2006 23:13
A good photographer can touch people without words. And I am touched by this photo. Leaving out the face of the youngest one really did it. I feel the sadness of this kid in a happy family. Grannie will 'miss' you. That's what comes to my mind when looking at your photo. Thank you for a moment of almost grabbing for a tissue.

Guenter Eh		19-Sep-2006 17:34
The (invisible) smile of wisdom of the old lady dominates the artificial happiness of the ad family. She carry her smile in her soul.

ruthemily		19-Sep-2006 17:04
clever image, Jen. it's as though the people in the poster are grinning specifically for your camera, as if that's all we know how to do now, pretend, put on the smiley faces, mask reality and fool everyone, including ourselves, that we mastered the art of finding happiness. yet the woman in front, the real human in the shot, is blissfully unaware of your camera, she's lost in her own world, and in it she seems far happier and far more at ease with herself and her life.

Kal Khogali		19-Sep-2006 15:57
David said it all, the fact that the poster people smile at us, acknowledging their existence as fake people and she does not look at us, almost denying reality is so incredibly powerful. Great image Jen...never getting tired of saying that ;-))K

david procter		19-Sep-2006 15:54
There is such a strong relationship between the real and the unreal in this wonderful layered image. Its very skillfully composed in that the "idealistic" smiling family is actually making space in the frame for the chinese woman and her expression is almost a rection to this without her actually being aware of this picture of western joy behind her. There is a strong social message here involving the encroaching wes and this woman's attitude to it. A sublime piece.