Emergence
by Gigi Chung
Gigi Chung is a San Francisco-based fine-art photographer who mainly works in medium-format digital photography. She has come to focus on architectural abstracts with a minimalistic approach. She finds the juxtaposition of light, shadows and lines in architecture fascinating. This continues to inspire her for new ideas. Her artwork has been exhibited in multiple galleries and museums in Athens, Chania, Cormons, Glasgow, Greenville, Portland, Minneapolis, Taipei, Trieste, Tokyo, San Francisco and Vermont. Some of Chungʼs recent accolades include being selected as Architecture Series Winner in the 14th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, Golden Design Award, Top 50 Designers And The Most Popular Design in Photography and Photo Manipulation Category in Novum Design Awards.
Dream
Futuristic
Inverted
“Emergence” is an ongoing photographic project of architectural abstraction in black and white. Started in 2017, the collection surveys the visual language of shape, form, line and the absence of color in a built environment. Departing from the existing reality, these monochrome architectural abstracts create compositions independent of time and space. The artist drew her inspiration from Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Designed by Frank Gehry, this venue has a strong nautical theme. The intent of the collection is to present the edifices as ships and yachts emerging from the ocean, bringing the facades to light.
Convergance
Peek
Roll
Sails
ShipShape
Slanted
Wave
Influenced by her father who taught architecture in the university and symbolic representation by Hokusai, the artist employs a fine-art approach to exaggerate curves, folds and structures resembling the iconic waves painted by Hokusai.
Fascinated by the interplay of light and shadows, she has gone through in-depth studies of when and how the sunlight shines on buildings. The scouting research often involves multiple location visits. This calculated methodology enables higher precision when capturing images. The overall vision is to extract and distill from the primary design expression. The intricate study of undulating metallic surfaces invites viewers to endless imaginations and experience the unique spatial relationship of a built environment.
Wave
Slanted
Roll
Sails
ShipShape
Inverted
Futuristic
Peek
Dream
Convergance
Prizes
- Cityscape Series Winner, 15th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards
- Architectural Series Winner, 14th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards
- Golden Design Award, Top 50 Designers, The Most Popular Design in Photography and Photo Manipulation, Novum Design Awards 2019
- Bronze Winner, People Events Category, Budapest International Foto Awards 2019
- Silver Winner, Architecture Buildings and Personal Portfolio, Moscow International Foto Awards 2019
- First Place Winner, Portfolio Architecture And Architecture Buildings Categories, Umbra International Photography Awards 2019
- Silver Winner, Personal Portfolio, Tokyo International Foto Awards 2019
- Bronze Winner, Portfolio People Book, Tokyo International Foto Awards 2019
- Architectural Series Winner, 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards
- Gold Winner, Fine Art Portfolio, Tokyo International Foto Awards 2018
Publications / Press 2020
- “Emergence“ online exhibition, Tagree Magazine
- “Beyond The Plane” color online exhibition, Tagree Magazine
- “Dimension Conversation” monochrome online exhibition, Tagree Magazine
- Featured Artist, Photographize Magazine
Exhibitions
2021
2020
- “Architectural Photography” Group Exhibition, Southeast Center For Photography, Greensville
- “Inspired with Hasselblad” Featured Artist, Hasselblad
2019
- “Emergence” Solo Exhibition, Hasselblad Japan Tokyo Store Gallery
- “Emergence” Group Exhibition, Trieste Photo Days, Museo del Territorio, Cormons and Trieste, Italy
- 2nd Chania International Photo Festival 2019, Greece
- Fine Art Group Exhibition, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens
- Cityscape, Monochrome Group Exhibitions, The Glasgow Gallery Of Photography
- Wonder Foto Day, Taipei
- London Photo Show, 5th Base Gallery, London
2018
- Landscape and Architecture, Black Box Gallery, Portland
- Black and White Group Exhibition, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens
- Grayscale: A Picture Show, Black Box Gallery, Portland
- Contemporary Nude, Southeast Center For Photography, Greenville
- Mono-Kromatik Group Exhibition, Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis
- 1st Chania International Photo Festival 2018, Greece
- Capturing The Light Group Exhibition, PhotoPlace Gallery, Vermont
2017
- Landscape Exhibition, Blank Wall Gallery, Greece
2016
- Radical Buildings, Tate Modern, London
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