Joey, New York City, 2005
C-Print, 76cm X 101cm
Gary, Llano, TX., 2005
C-Print, 76cm X 101cm
Shen Wei's series, 'Almost Naked', possesses a strikingly accomplished balance of raw intimacy and formal intensity, seldom found in contemporary photographic portraiture. As trite as it may seem within the current climate of cynicism, sarcasm and irony, there is a real sense of emotional connection in these pictures, not only between the photographer and his models, but between the viewer and the viewed as well.
Wei's subjects are quietly stripped bare before the camera, despite the fact that many of them remain fully clothed. And in a culture more generally enthralled with cool, pokerfaced posturing or explicit, often gimmicky sexuality, the restrained and tender emotional force of Wei's imagery is remarkably powerful.
To see more of Shen Wei's work on Saatchi Online click here.
Aaron Schuman
AARON SCHUMAN is an American photographer, editor, lecturer and critic, currently based in the United Kingdom. He has contributed to publications such as Aperture, ArtReview, Modern Painters, HotShoe, Creative Review, The Face, DayFour, The Guardian, The Observer and The Sunday Times, and is the director and editor of the online photography journal, SeeSaw Magazine.
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