Top image by Mark Siegemund (@marksshanghai)
If you’ve been following Shanghai’s Instagram community, chances are you’ve probably seen Mark Siegemund’s distinct amber-hued futuristic drone shots of the City of Devils. Besides his own account, the German-born architect also has an Instagram project titled ‘Shanghai Comune’ (@shanghaicomune) dedicated to “preserving Shanghai visually” by sharing photos that capture the unique characteristics of the city. Here, Siegemund discusses aerial and street photography from an architect’s perspective, and tells us one type of photograph that he wishes to see more of from his fellow Shanghai-based photographers.
When did you first develop an interest in photography?
When I was 6, my father bought his first Praktica camera. As I grew older, I’d borrow that camera and take my own pictures, but I didn’t really take it very seriously until I invested in my own proper camera just before moving to China.
Photo by @marksshanghai
Photo by @marksshanghai
Looking through your Instagram feed, there are a lot of night shots of the city. Why’s that?
For someone who’s from a village (in eastern Germany) with just 1,000 inhabitants, the visual contrast and impact of a big city like Shanghai has always stayed with me since I moved here. So when I first joined Instagram about a year ago, I noticed all these popular accounts shooting very interesting cityscape shots, but I really enjoy taking photos at night because I like capturing that sense of stillness when the city is asleep. For me, going out late at night and taking the time to set up the equipment for long exposure shots is a very therapeutic process.
In what ways does being an architect influence your photography?
It’s important for architects to see their work from multiple perspectives, so we create a lot of 3D simulations to visualize the design. Shooting with a drone is almost just like bringing one of these models to life.
Aerial photography has opened up a lot of possibilities and angles for photographers. To use an architectural analogy, I think it’s almost like you’re designing and building a structure from a blank canvas. On the other hand, shooting on the streets is like an architect working on a remodeling project, where there’s an existing framework to work with. Both are interesting and challenging in their own ways.
Photo by @marksshanghai
Photo by @marksshanghai
Can you also tell us why you started the @shanghaicomune account, and why did you use “Preserving Shanghai visually” as its mission statement?
The idea came from seeing and hearing about historic neighborhoods like Laoximen being torn down to make way for urban redevelopment. I wanted @shanghaicomune to be a place where photographers can share their own visual interpretation of the city.
What criteria do you look for when deciding which photos to repost?
Aestheically, I always want a variety of modern and old parts of Shanghai on the grid account, more visually pleasing color schemes, and photos that aren’t over-edited.
Photo by @somewhereinshanghai
Photo by @time_to_tiao
What types of photos do you see most under the #shanghaicomune hashtag? And what do you wish to see more of?
Recently, I’ve been seeing more and more night shots, partly because the iPhone camera quality is getting much better for shooting in darker environments. But I’d really like to see more pictures about the daily lives of the locals. And greenery. There’s a decent amount of parks and green spaces around the city yet not a lot of photos feature them.
Photo by @bkk.8.31
Photo by @shuo_cheng
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