Photographer Xu Haifeng captures the sad optimism of Shanghai - China's commercial hub in the 1990s and 2000s.
For photographer Xu Haifeng and many others born in the late 1960s, Shanghai in the 1990s was a city full of possibilities. As economic reforms put the city at the forefront of globalization, young people his age had access to a new wave of fashion, business opportunities and a greater sense of freedom to pursue their dreams.
As a budding photographer at the time, Xu was fascinated by the remnants of the city's rapid development, especially old areas being demolished to make way for new construction.
He then turns his lens to those who are trying to keep up with the development of society as well as those who are overcoming the storms in pursuit of a better life, thereby clearly reflecting the portrait of the city and its people at a time when everything is undergoing drastic changes.
Sharing in an interview with The Paper, the photographer born in 1969 said: "At that time, Shanghai was like a construction site. Highways were built one after another along the road I took to work every day while people had to wait longer for buses because traffic was obstructed by construction works."
Through these artistic and time-stamped photos, the author hopes to reflect Shanghai in its golden decade, thereby helping viewers remember their childhood.
Photo taken in 2000.
Oriental Pearl TV Tower, 1994
Photo taken August 1996.
Photo taken March 1994
Suzhou Creek, March 1994
Photo taken May 1994
East Nanjing Road, 1998.
Suzhou in the 1990s
Photo taken October 1994
Photo taken March 2005
