SHANGHAI.- This September, PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai returns to China for the fourth year to celebrate the art of the photographic medium. Taking place at the Shanghai Exhibition Center from 8-10 September 2017, the fair is widely recognised as Asia Pacific’s home for cutting-edge photography and a key driver of China’s maturing photography market.

Ambitious, museum-quality presentations throughout the 2017 edition will bring together emerging and established artists who push the boundaries of the photographic medium, and challenge the notion of what photography can be. With this sole focus on photography, PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai offers collectors, curators and visitors from across the Asia Pacific region an unparalleled site of discovery.

Strong sales and an increasing number of collectors and buying attending PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai since its launch in 2014 have greatly supported the development of the photographic medium in China, now the world’s largest art market.

"PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai is the most important and prestigious gateway for collectors and enthusiasts in Asia to embrace this dynamic medium in art. Highly visual and conceptual, PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai is joined by the best international galleries and artists - going to the fair is a fantastic experience." Lu Xun, Art collector and Director of Sifang Art Museum, China.

2017 edition defined by cutting-edge photography from emerging and established artists rarely available to acquire in China
PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai 2017 will feature the new Chinese talent of Fan Xi (Gallery Yang, Beijing); Peng Yun (Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai); Chen Wei (ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai, Beijing & Singapore); Chen Qiulin (A Thousand Plateaus Art Space, Chengdu) and Wu Ding (M Art Center, Shanghai). It will also recognise the talent of established Chinese artists including Yang Yongliang (Matthew Liu Fine Art, Shanghai) and Zeng Fanzhi ShanghART Gallery (Shanghai, Beijing & Singapore).

Historically important presentations at the fair will include: Henri Cartier Bresson (Time Space Gallery, Beijing), Zhang Hai’er (Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong), Robert Mapplethorpe (Timeless Gallery, Beijing), Alexander Rodchenko (Books and Photographs, Paris) and Marc Riboud (Magnum Photos, London & Paris).

PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai will welcome several new galleries this year - Tasveer (Bangalore) who will present Karen Knorr and Longmen Projects (Taipei, Hong Kong & Shanghai) showing Daniel Lee Postaer. Robert Mann Gallery (New York), who participated in PHOTOFAIRS’ inaugural San Francisco edition in January 2017, will show artists including Richard Misrach, Jeff Brouws, and Paulette Tavormina, giving Asia Pacific collectors and buyers access to leading American artists never exhibited in China before.

International artists will also continue to be supported at the fair – Lillian Bassman (CAMERA WORK, Berlin) and Esther Vonplon and Roman Singer (Galerie Stephan Witschi, Zurich) will join Lea Jessens (In The Gallery, Copenhagen), Gohar Dashti (Mohsen Gallery, Tehran) and Carla van de Puttelaar and Schilte & Portielje (Kahmann Gallery, Amsterdam).

Staged: Exploring the relationship between photography and other art forms
Staged is a unique and experimental platform that will showcase large-scale works that transcend the boundaries of photography from artists who approach the medium in new ways using installation art, video and performance.

The program will include a range of works, from renowned contemporary artistic duo Birdhead (ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai, Beijing & Singapore) who will present ‘Welcome to Birdhead’ a 13 x 3 m photographic installation through to a special exhibition of key South Korean artists including Won Seoung-Won and Han Sungpil held in the private collection of the Museum of Photography Seoul.

China’s most influential collectors open their private archives
For the first time, a special exhibition will offer a curated insight into the private acquisitions of powerful art collectors David Chau (Cc Foundation), Adrian Cheng (K11 Art Foundation), Thomas Shao (Modern Media Group), and Jenny Wang (Fosun Foundation).

Ranked among the top collectors in China, the carefully curated exhibition from the collectors’ archives highlights the active interest, energy and commitment to buying photography and moving image.

The exhibition will feature works by Wolfgang Tillmans, Cindy Sherman, Araki Nobuyoshi, Yang Fudong and Geng Jianyi amongst others.

Dynamic discussion and unique exhibitions offered in public program
The dialogue surrounding the importance of collecting is underlined throughout the public programming of Conversations (talks programme focusing on the art of collecting) and Insights.

Insights | A Colour Explosion is a curated exhibition of museum-quality works for private sale. The exhibition will trace the influence of pioneering artists such as William Eggleston (CAMERA WORK, Berlin) and Harry Callahan (Robert Mann Gallery, New York) on the next generation of contemporary artists including Jiang Pengyi (Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong), Andrea Good (Galerie Stephan Witschi, Zurich), Shen Wei (Flowers Gallery, London & New York) and Robert Zhao (ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai, Beijing & Singapore).