‘China and Europe Story : People, City and Culture’

The photographer Hui Zhao was born in 1964 in the city of Nanjin. He has been invited to exhibit his photographs at the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels on four occasions and his international exhibitions have earned him substantial backing from the Chinese Ministry of Culture. The guiding principle of his work is clearly to depict the bright side of China through scenes of everyday life. In doing so, he propagates an optimistic vision of the future. But while many photographers tasked with documenting their country decide to focus on cultural specificities, Hui Zhao puts his energies into highlighting the similarities between different cultures. While each culture is usually seen as very different from the others, Hui Zhao shows us that it is just as easy to focus on the similarities. This change in perspective, which covers trivial, funny and deeper aspects, introduces us to the concept of culture from a deliberately humanist point of view.