Moon Rabbit
The Chinese Journey
At the beginning of her travels to China in 1998, Rosemarie Zens found a predominantly agrarian multi-ethnic state and initially photographed mainly landscapes and everyday scenes in urban and rural situations that reminded her of pre-modern times in our Western world. Within a time-frame of twenty years, groundbreaking developments took place, such as the technical transition from analog to digital photography on the one hand, and a rapid structural change within Chinese society on the other. The memorable photographs show how China increasingly orients itself towards Western culture and how homogenizing forces such as science, technology and the global market influence individual life. On various levels, however, the images also bear witness to how the precarious developments reflect our own approach to the world, while traces of the spirituality of ancient Chinese culture can still be found in the style of the images.
(from the publisher’s announcement)
Essay PDF
Photography and text: Rosemarie Zens
Bookdesign: Rosemarie Zens and Kehrer Design (July Mollik)
70 images, texts in English and German
23 x 30 cm, 160 pages, hardcover
Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg Berlin 2020
ISBN 978-3-86828-972-5
Available at → amazon
and the → Kehrer bookstore
oder signiert direkt →Bildband, Berlin
or signed → AnzenbergerGallery, Wien
About the book Moon Rabbit
[wpex more=“in the Süddeutsche Zeitung“ less=“collapse“]
The hare and the hedgehog
SZ, January 7, 2021
… Rosemarie Zens has traveled to China three times, over a period of 20 years. Each time she was in a different country. And on each of these trips she was in different countries. At least that is her impression, and that is also what her photographs in „Moon Rabbit“ convey. She shows a simultaneity of pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial realities of life. Sometimes in a single photograph. A country so eager for change that hardly anyone can keep up. Where people build something in one place that elsewhere, a few hundred kilometers away, has long been considered obsolete … (Stefan Fischer)
[/wpex] and [wpex more=“in the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung“ less=“collapse“]
With clenched fists forward
WAZ, December 12, 2020
Traces of the past in streetscenes: China has been experiencing rapid change for years. This is shown in the photo book „Moon Rabbit – The Chinese Journey“ by Rosemarie Zens. The photographs are based on three journeys over a period of 20 years. While Zens encountered an agricultural country in 1998, she also experienced the development of a digitalized society and mass surveillance. Zens presents a diverse picture of China: barren landscapes, animal markets, and city scenes – instantaneous images of everyday life reflect the juxtaposition of new and old. (Oliver Kühn)
[/wpex]
Moon Rabbit Photofilm
I became fascinated by the idea of creating a photofilm of my photo book Moon Rabbit. The Chinese Journey by focusing on the ‘visible / invisible’ aspect… → to the film