Contemporary Photography Asian Perspectives
Asia Week New York
March 10 – April 30, 2016
DoDo Jin Ming
Early Spring I, 2000
archival pigment print
DoDo Jin Ming
Early Spring II, 2000
archival pigment print
DoDo Jin Ming
Early Spring III, 2000
archival pigment print
20x24"
Free Element plate IV
Sky Inside XVII
Burnt Water Melting I
Burnt Water Melting V
Burnt Water Melting VI
Free Element plate II
Free Element plate I
Sky Inside XXI
Sky Inside XVI
Sky Inside II
Sky Inside III
Sky Inside XIX
Sky Inside XX
Respecting the awesome power and drama found only in the sea, DoDo Jin Ming creates extraordinary images that transport the viewer to a precipice about to be submerged under a cascade of water. Printing her pictures from a combination of two negatives, one of the sea, the other sky, Jin Ming has intensified the power of the surging waves by blanketing them under an engulfing sky. Although this technique of multiple-printing harks back to the mid-19th Century and the majestic and peaceful seascapes of Gustave LeGray, DoDo Jin Ming's turbulent images are more akin to the paintings of J.M.W. Turner and Winslow Homer.
We also sense strong literary connotations, such as Edgar Allen Poe's "Descent into the Maelstrom" and Dante's "Inferno." Jin Ming made most of her exposures along the coast of Maine, Nova Scotia, and Hong Kong. Often at great personal risk, she was able to capture on film the power and rage of the sea that would stir the heart of any sailor. Born in Beijing in 1955, she trained as a concert violinist before taking up photography.
