Beijing’s annual photography week ‘Photo Beijing 2016’ has concluded at the China Millennium Monument on the west end of the city over the weekend. Held every October since 2013, this year’s event is taking the title of “Image-Presence” as its theme.

Photo Beijing will bring together various exhibitions, photography lectures, photography markets and other special activities.

Photo Beijing 2016

The theme of this year’s event is “Image Presence,” with image referring to the perfect match between the mind and technology, while presence represents the experience of photographers reflected in their photos.

Wings of Fantasy was curated by Rose Rande, a renowned picture editor and the director of the Photography Department for German magazine Geography. And, it is this year’s main exhibition. The exhibition sees eight photographers from around the world mix fantasy and reality, as they present current events and social issues through conceptual photography.
 
“Unlike past exhibitions, which were more traditional and classic, this year’s exhibition will be centering around an abstract concept, more contemporary,” said Zhu Hongyu, deputy director of Photo Beijing Organization Committee.

“It’s co-curated by German picture editor Rose Rande and Chinese curator Huang Wen. It’s called conceptual photography, a type of photography whose purpose is to express thoughts.

“We’re also introducing a special Spanish photo festival within this year’s event, to offer a platform where photographers could really communicate and share their thoughts.”

Apart from introducing international works, the event will also highlight home-grown talents.

“And we’ve also collaborated with other festivals in China, including the Pingyao photo festival and the Jinan photo festival. This can showcase a comprehensive picture of China's photography scene,” said Zhu.

Since 2013, this annual event has invited more than 1,000 photographers and 30 prestigious organizations from more than 30 countries and regions to Beijing. It hopes to exchange, communicate and mix, not only in terms of photography, but also in terms of different kinds of thinking and cultural values.