Hands up what you think of when you hear the name Shanghai. A shiny skyline reaching up to the heavens? Of course you do. But even at the start of this century, the city was a very different place. In fact, keen eyes could probably pick out construction changes by the week — the city is in unprecedented flux, the past being wiped out as the world’s largest city by population transforms into some sort of futuristic megatropolis.
![Ballads of Shanghai](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/balladsofshanghaismall.jpg)
Photographer Graham Fink has been documenting this shift, his body of work Ballads of Shanghai documenting — over the course of five years — what he calls ‘exchange sites’; where old China, with its communist heritage, is demolished for skyscrapers, office blocks and urban projects. The results are staggering, gazing deep into the eyes of a Shanghai that is more post-apocalyptic than pre-new horizon.
With only hints of humanity, Fink’s view fixates on what once was, the sci-fi near future that Shanghai today represents is a distant prospect. The rubble and remains here are steeped in narrative, street artists having weaved their own plot twists into visual tales … who are the protagonists, and where are they now?
Ballads of Shanghai continues at London gallery Riflemaker until 14 February.
![Ballads of Shanghai at Riflemaker, London](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/balladsofshanghai2.jpg)
Big Dreams © Graham Fink
![Face Off](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/balladsofshanghai3.jpg)
Face Off © Graham Fink
![Peace Amongst the Pieces](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/balladsofshanghai4.jpg)
Peace Amongst the Pieces © Graham Fink
![Mao Was Here](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/balladsofshanghai5.jpg)
Mao Was Here © Graham Fink
![Girl on the Roof](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/balladsofshanghai6.jpg)
Girl on the Roof © Graham Fink
![Twitter](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/balladsofshanghai7.jpg)
Twitter © Graham Fink
![Jay](https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/balladsofshanghai8.jpg)
Jay © Graham Fink