Ren Hang: Strength in Fragility
From ancient Greek statues to Titian’s Venere di Urbino, nudes have always been alive in the public’s scenario as a typical art trope. Slowly, as naked limbs could no longer hide behind a deity’s name, the idea of a body lying bare for everyone to see became less and less accepted until it was deemed as immoral. Although we are bombarded more and more by consensual and not so consensual nude content, bodies still haven’t been fully destigmatized yet. Even so, nakedness promptly awakens our inner voyeur.
Untitled, 2014 © Courtesy of Ren Hang Estate
“THE WAY I SEE IT, BODIES ARE PRE-EXISTING REGARDLESS OF WHETHER I PHOTOGRAPH THEM OR NOT. THEY’RE ALSO PART OF THE NATURAL WORLD”
Ren Hang was a Beijing based Chinese photographer who committed suicide in 2017 at the age of 30. In this short span of time, he managed to publish 11 books and his work has been displayed worldwide in various exhibitions with one happening now, post mortem at Fondazione Sozzani until the 29th of November.
Photography - as it often happens to be - came to Ren Hang as a hobby during his university days, when he soon realised that the initial path he intended to follow in Marketing wasn’t the right fit for him. His equipment consisted of pretty cheap thrifted 35mm cameras, particularly from the brand Minolta, ranging from the Minolta Freedom 115 to 110 Date or X-700.
Starting from 2007, he captured everything he laid his eyes on, especially his roommate in the intimacy of their shared flat. And although self-taught, we can still see hints of influence taken from other artist such as Nobuyoshi Araki’s erotic photography, Terry Richardson’s seemingly mundane portraiture look, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Wolfgang Tillmans’ love for youth.
Ren Hang’s photography can be easily recognized by bright flashes and an exclusive focus on highly performative nudes, body intertwining with each other in a way that is provocative and subtly destabilizing. The setting is also typically either in front of white walls, over roofs or in the middle of wilderness. All these backgrounds enhance even more the sexually explicit but rarely erotic poses of the models, who are also the photographer’s friends. Ren Hang said himself that he preferred to shoot people he knew rather than casting professional models, and this is understandable considering the type of intimate photography he worked on, which required a certain level of comfortableness between the photographer and his subjects.
As soon as the camera clicks, there is no time for second takes. Every Fujicolor C200 roll becomes the tangible representation of the photographer’s idea. The post-production editing is close to none.
Kissing Roof, 2012 © Courtesy of Ren Hang Estate
“IS THERE ANYBODY WHO EDIT HIS THOUGHTS? I DON’T EDIT MY THOUGHTS, WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO EDIT MY PICS?”
Exploring freedom of expression in a country that is known for limiting creativity is not an easy job, even less if you’re a self-taught photographer who bluntly does nudes. Every content that is deemed as pornographic has been object of censorship in China starting from 1949, in order to “protect minors and maintain public morality” and websites are monitored against spiritual pollution. Needless to say, this blackout has only led to a lack of conversations around sex that are vital for one’s well-being especially when said censorship also labels LGBT content as immoral.
In Ren Hang’s photography, gender is bent as much as bodies are rearranged in masses of pure flesh, hands reaching for each other. Needless to say, his works have been frequently censored, and he has also been arrested several times during shootings.
Regardless, Ren Hang managed to reach a broad following in Mainland China– which goes to show that there is a large crowd of like-minded people there seeking for the same freedom as him– and he didn’t fail to catch international attention either. In fact, he did editorial works and magazine covers for both an international audience and mainlanders, but he never once hid is personal style. He worked with magazines such as Boys Don't Cry, L'OFFICIEL, GQ Style and Vice.
One remarkable project he participated in was the #GucciGram campaign in 2015.
“I DON’T REALLY VIEW MY WORK AS TABOO, BECAUSE I DON’T THINK SO MUCH IN CULTURAL CONTEXT OR POLITICAL CONTEXT. I DON’T INTENTIONALLY PUSH BOUNDARIES. I JUST DO WHAT I DO”
It could be that being censored by the Chinese government has become a trademark for Chinese contemporary artists. Just think about Ai Wei Wei for instance, who also helped the photographer being exposed to a larger audience by featuring him in the group exhibition “FUCK OFF 2” back in 2013.
However, while Ai Wei Wei is and has always been open regarding his anti-CCP views, Ren Hang never expressed any kind of direct criticism towards the Chinese Government, and his photography isn’t to be seen as an act of rebellion either. Although his work has been wrongly interpreted by a particular western gaze. Sure, the political context in which Ren Hang operated in impacted his photography, but his work cannot be exclusively reduced to a political narrative.
While asked about the aim of his photography, he stated that his creations are a way to have fun for both photographer and his subjects. Instead, his photography is a commentary of the youth and its struggle to deal with sexuality and intimacy in the modern world… because underneath it all, isn’t each one of us dealing with the freedom we seem to be constrained by?
“I ALWAYS HEAR MY PHONE RINGING AND ONCE I PICKED IT UP TO SEE WHO IS IT AND I REALIZE THAT MY PHONE DIDN’T RING AT ALL, BUT I FELT THAT IT WAS VIBRATING. I DON’T WANT TO ANSWER TO ANY PHONE CALLS, BUT IN FACT NO ONE PHONED ME. CURIOSITY AND PANIC COEXIST”
As briefly mentioned at the beginning, Ren Hang suffered from depression and he recorded his lowest moments for almost a decade on his blog under the self-explanatory title of “My Depression”, which is now a published book.
Waking up in the morning can be hard sometimes, waking up in the morning with the only wish of not waking up is unbearable. As much as a bare chest, mental illnesses don’t hold much of a better reputation.
Ren Hang was a man deeply loved by many around him and perhaps that was even harder to accept for him. It takes strength to expose your weaknesses to others, and he knew that very well since his job consisted in constantly giving new content to his audience while hiding behind his analog camera. Actually, Ren Hang never hid himself, he consciously chose to be tender and stay true ‘til the very end. In a way, he chose what he wanted, he chose life.
“I HESITATE AN HOUR TO DECIDE WHETHER TO GO OUT OR NOT. I DON’T DARE TO GO OUTSIDE. I FEEL LIKE EVERYONE IS SPYING ON ME, EVERYONE KNOWS ME, EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT ME. I WANT TO HEAR WHAT ARE THEY SAYING”