Sad news everyone, talented Beijing poet and photographer Ren Hang passed away yesterday (February 23) at the age of 29. It is said he chose to take his own life. On his website, Hang had subsections dedicated to his photographs and poems and also had a section titled “my depression.”
Born in Beijing, Hang was self taught and began his path as a photographer shooting his friends as a hobby while attending college. Hang’s serenely beautiful images were embraced internationally, but were viewed as controversial in China where he was arrested multiple times. As well, his displayed work has been confiscated and defaced, and his online spaces have been removed.
While Hang’s images showing lots of naked people interacting seems like not that big of a deal in 2017, in China such work is still subject to heavy censorship.
In an interview with Vice in 2013, Ren was asked about how his worked was received in China. “My photos, especially the ones of naked bodies, are forbidden to be shown in Chinese galleries. Only occasionally can the ones that aren’t explicit be shown, but I still face many difficulties even with them,” said Hang, who went on to say, “None of China’s press will publish my books and I’ve been arrested while shooting photos outside before.”
Nonetheless, Hang added that despite difficulties he still loved China. “I love China and I like shooting Chinese people,” explained Hang, who added, “I was born here and I feel a big connection with my hometown. True, I’m restricted here, but the more I’m limited by my country, the more I want my country to take me in and accept me for who I am and what I do.”
Hang’s work is currently on display at a solo exhibit titled “Human Love,” on display at Fotografiska Museum in Stockholm. The event opened on February 17th and will close April 2nd. His work is also on exhibit at the Foam Museum in Amsterdam and Stieglitz19 gallery in Antwerp.
Hang’s last post on Instagram were images he shot for Purple magazine. Check out some of them below.
No. 2
No. 3
