After completing the photojournalism masters program at the University of Texas, Rebecca Davis found herself in China wandering about, meeting people, and documenting the rapidly changing country on the eve of the Olympics. Of this project she says, ‘I have always been fascinated by the role of fantasy scapes in cultures and even more so when arriving in Hong Kong and seeing the way people from another culture interacted within a fantasy space that was so distinctly American Disneyland. I spent 3 months documenting the park curious what drew visitors from Mainland China and Hong Kong to this place which was made up of so many attractions that drew on American nostalgia. While Gucci, Prada, and any other name brand one can think of adorned the arms of Hong Kongers and plastered the walls of the city outside the park’s gates, visitors seemed to welcome the experience of a place they could call a fantasy world, like Disneyland, so that they could feel their world outside, at least in opposition to Disneyland, held on to some level of reality’.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Beautiful work! This photographer has an incredible eye for color.
Wonderful story by an awesome photographer and shot on film!
wonderful!