Shanghai: A Living Study
Location: Shanghai, Jiangsu, China, Year: 2012, Photographer: Ajani Charles
Project Summary
This series of photographs forms part of an ongoing personal body of work by Ajani Charles documenting Shanghai, China, captured during the winter of 2012. The Shanghai project exists within a broader, long-term exploration of China, alongside similar personal projects focused on other regions and cities across the country.
Ajani initially travelled to China to conduct market research, assessing whether it could serve as a viable base from which to reinvent himself and reposition his career internationally. Rather than approach the country as a tourist, he moved through it as an observer, strategist, and documentarian.
Spending a month travelling alone throughout China, armed with only a handful of Mandarin words, and eventually losing his first Android phone and access to Google Translate, forced him to rely on instinct, body language, courage, and the goodwill of strangers. The experience reinforced a lasting lesson: when circumstances demand it, he can communicate with virtually anyone.
Shanghai, in particular, left a profound impression on him. The sheer density of its population, the velocity of its economic engine, and the visible ambition embedded in its skyline embodied a level of scale and momentum that felt both intimidating and inspiring.
He was drawn to the city’s layered contrasts: hyper-modern architecture rising beside colonial-era buildings, luxury retail and global finance intersecting with street vendors and neighbourhood markets, contemporary art spaces operating within one of the world’s most vast and complicated urban environments. Shanghai’s nightlife, visual culture, and entrepreneurial energy reflected a city fully aware of its place on the global stage.
Although China ultimately was not the right long-term relocation fit circa 2012, the hospitality he experienced and the intensity of Shanghai’s rhythm continue to inform his worldview. These photographs document not only a pivotal chapter of personal exploration, but also an enduring fascination with scale, ambition, and reinvention; qualities that continue to shape his broader international practice.
Location: Shanghai, Jiangsu, China, Year: 2012, Photographer: Ajani Charles
Location: Shanghai, Jiangsu, China, Year: 2012, Photographer: Ajani Charles
Location: Shanghai, Jiangsu, China, Year: 2012, Photographer: Ajani Charles
Location: Shanghai, Jiangsu, China, Year: 2012, Photographer: Ajani Charles
Location: Shanghai, Jiangsu, China, Year: 2012, Photographer: Ajani Charles
Location: Shanghai, Jiangsu, China, Year: 2012, Photographer: Ajani Charles
Location: The Bund, Shanghai, Jiangsu, China, Year: 2012, Photographer: Ajani Charles
