Embracing the Past: Interview with Hai Bo
By Terri Sit
HAI BO at Pace Hong Kong with his photographic work
Chinese photographer Hai Bo is perhaps best known for his “Them” series (1997–2000). Every work comprises two images: one an old photograph and the other a restaged rendition that the artist created decades later with the same people, in the same pose. Most of Hai’s subjects in these images are people close to him, whether they be his family, his childhood friends or acquaintances. Particularly striking and poignant is the visual lapse of time—the before and after—seen in these two photographs when they are displayed together. In the second, more recent image, not only are there visible signs of age and topographical changes, but also reminders of death as the artist leaves an absent space in place of those in the original photograph who are no longer alive.
