I have seen a lot of movies in the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon genre, and by a lot, I really mean half of one. I constantly watch previews for them, however, and I am always taken aback by the lack of gravity they depict. Was there actually a time when ninjas could balance their entire bodies on one single stick of bamboo? Is it really possible to run along a canopy of cherry blossoms without disturbing a single flower? These things I may never know, but I do know that the photography of Chinese photographer Liu Wei has a campy sensibility that I can relate to. Those movies are visually stunning and ethereal all take themselves very seriously lending themselves a credibility that is not grounded in reality. Wei’s photography is just funny, choosing to depict humor over beauty, which I find refeshing.
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