Tiananmen 2009

Born in Hong Kong in 1963, Karl Chiu wanted to be a missionary when he was a teenager. He ended up studying sociology in Taiwan and later moved to the US where he studied photography in San Francisco and became a photojournalist. In 1994, he returned to Hong Kong and worked for newspapers for several years. Since 1997, he has been a full-time freelance photographer. This series of photographs shot against the backdrop of Tiananmen explores the scenes and people of contemporary China before and after 1997. The artist has taken an oblique angle and used exposure techniques and vibrant colours to create blurry, unreal images that immediately unsettle the viewer.