At a moment when the world is more engaged with China than ever before, ChinaFile, a project of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society, and the Magnum Foundation are pleased to announce the Abigail Cohen Fellowship in Documentary Photography. We have joined together to provide grants to photographers to address pressing social issues that are impacting China and its relations with the world that have not received the attention they deserve. Over the next several years, ChinaFile and the Magnum Foundation will offer two Fellowship grants a year to photographers as support for their efforts to create new work.
We are pleased to announce this year’s inaugural Fellows:
Ian Teh has been photographing China for more than fifteen years. His photography expresses his concern for the social, environmental, and political. Amongst selected works, his series “The Vanishing: Altered Landscapes and Displaced Lives” (1999-2003), records the devastating impact of the Three Gorges Dam on China’s Yangtze River Valley. In later works, such as “Dark Clouds,” “Tainted Landscapes,” and “Traces,” Teh explores the darker consequences of China’s booming economy. His work is part of the permanent collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Hood Museum in the U.S. With his grant, he will be travelling to the source of the Yellow River to photograph the pristine landscapes affected by climate change, industry, and government ecological restoration projects.
Tomoko Kikuchi is a Japanese-born photographer based in Beijing since 1999. Her work is held in permanent collection at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography and Kawasaki City Museum. Born in Tokyo, Kikuchi graduated from the Musashino Art University. Her work has been featured in a solo exhibit at the thirty-eighth Kimura Ihei Commemorative Photography Award Show. She will use her grant to document funeral customs in rural communities in Southern China.
