Comments on the Industrial Photography works by Tang Jie

Wu Hong

Tang Jie is my peer because we have both worked in the propaganda department of one company, which gives us the same past experience and professional background.

The subject of industry is a dangerous trap that can easily lead one person to be drowned in grand narratives. I know very well that it is quite complex to express one’s own independent opinion towards industrial civilization through photography since I share the same past as Tang Jie.

If we want to express industrial themes, we must focus on the relationship between human beings and industry. Then, we can see that industry is not just a subject or an object.

The Western industrial revolution was a period of rapid development and change, from discoveries made in the natural sciences and new manufacturing technology, to the emergence of the theory of evolution, many new ideas we created and shared. During this time, people came to realize that we, as humans, have the power and ability to shape our world in any way we see fit. Following this philosophy, industry not only came to encompass the foundation of the natural world, but also, came to be seen as a a new type of social system.

In the early period of the industrial revolution, there was criticism towards the greed and dissimilation brought about by the unmonitored development of the economy during this time. Even so, in the last century, many have praised the speed and efficiency that has been brought about by modern industry. This praise comes from a place of hope for the future, which can be seen as a kind dream of industrial utopia. However, materialist theory questions the validity of an industrial future in which humanity becomes less important than production.

China experienced poverty and weakness at the end of the nineteenth century, and during the early twentieth century, expressed a yearning for the this western industrial civilization.

After the establishment of Socialist ideology in China, industrial development, especially of heavy industry, has become the key national strategy involved in maintaining national security and international status. The advantage of a planned economy is it can mobilize the resources of the whole society and focus on the development of certain industries. With this rapid industrial development, however, the concept of the individual has been lost.

To be specific, given the generational and social background of China, intense industrial development has been necessary for China to join and keep pace with the rest of the world. In fact, even language has been affected by this rapid development, we can describe industry as a whole, but struggle to define each specific part. In this sense, the individual is once again lost.

How do we reclaim the individual in such an industrial society? Tang Jie's recent work has worked to answer this question. He gradually established himself as an artist with independent ideas under the pressure of an administrative job focused on propaganda, a truly impressive feat.

In his early series of works named Factory, it is clear that industry alienates society. Through his more recent series of works called Mines, he has been able to go beyond the narrow definition of industry, and extend it to thinking about the fate of human existence under the paradox of progress. Human beings are changing Earth's topography with their unprecedented strength, so we can also ask, what will this strength do to human beings?

Perhaps we have become accustomed to seeing the subject of industry in mainstream media, but when comes to Tang Jie's works, we are introduced to unique images of industry that have an apocalyptic feel and describe a sort of broken utopia. Tang Jie addresses the future of mankind if we continue to push development to extreme degrees. If the progress we create using industry were to vanish, what would happen to us, to our homes, and to our identities?

Oct, 8, 2011, midnight,Tongzhou, Beijing

Tang Jie, was born in Ma Anshan, An Hui province in 1963. Freelance career of photographer.
2011 China Pingyao International photography Festival, solo exhibition,
Excellent Photographer Award
2010 China Pingyao International photography Festival, solo exhibition,
Excellent Photographer Award
2010 An Hui Ma Anshan Museum, solo exhibition
2009 Chinese photographers' Association net, solo exhibition
2009 11th national art photography invitation match, associated exhibition