softcover, 21 x 28 cm, 416 pages
In early 2002, 22-year-old French photographer Anaïs Martane returned to Beijing with her camera. That was six months after the successful bid for the Olympics, Beijing showed a mix of nostalgia and future imagination in the early stages of urban transformation: pigeon brand bicycles, hot water bottles, scallions and cabbage piled up on street corners, familiar street scenes wrapped around the upcoming huge changes. She began filming a special group of young people - musicians, artists, and soulful figures gathered at Sanlitun River Bar at night. They are of similar age to her, but they give her a sense of belonging in a foreign land. There was no complex language exchange between them, but a real connection was established through music: accordion, guitar, softly sung lyrics, and one after another late night gatherings, forming a footnote to the youth of that era.
This book contains a set of photos taken by Anais Martane between 2002 and 2005, documenting the daily lives of wild children, Zhang Weiwei, Guo Long, Xiaohe, Wan Xiaoli, Xie Tianxiao and other musicians shuttling between life and performance. These photos are not sociological "Beijing Youth Group Images", but rather intimate visual memories about common growth. There is no sense of distance between the photographer and the subject, they are like friends and family. This visual journey belongs not only to her, but also to Beijing, which has not yet been engulfed by consumerism and still has a passion for art and expression. More than twenty years later, the River Bar has long disappeared between the skyscrapers of Sanlitun SOHO, and the young people who explore music on stage have become creators who have influenced a generation. This book is a tribute to that era, that friendship, and that unadorned sincere connection.
