Trapped between the Wusong river and ring-road highway, in the shadows of the surrounding high-rise buildings, lies an old Shanghainese neighborhood named Xinwuning. Like so many other areas before in Shanghai, this block will soon be demolished to make way for modern household columns that are now inherent to the Shanghainese skyline.
I randomly stumbled upon this maze two months before I was leaving Shanghai and found in the ineluctable fate of this place an echo of my upcoming departure. In this intricate labyrinth, time has stopped impervious to the crazy frenzy of the rhythm of the city.
Block after block the government is moving the inhabitants to modern buildings in the suburban district of Jiading. While an obvious modern comfort will be found in these new high-rise buildings, a historical unique sense of community will vanish.
More than anything it is the peaceful, calm moments in this micro society that interest me the most. My goal being to catch a glimpse of this feeling before the place is erased from the map.
2014
