In April 2016 Fabian Hammerl was invited to hold two lectures and a workshop at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts and the Shanghai Art & Design Academy, China. In his talk “Identity in public urban space – from a photographer’s perspective“ he described how urban space is formed by conflicting individual desires and practical needs creating an ever-changing spatial identity, and how this identity can be depicted, by example of his own photographic work.

The second lecture’s title, “Let the picture take care of itself!“, a slightly altered quote by photographer Garry Winogrand, calling to put aside forejudgement in creative processes, is encouraging the students to embrace chance and unforeseen encounter, while the photographic workshop took them on a Dérive-inspired trip based on purposefully transposed maps of their habitual environment, celebrating failure as a starting point for artistic exploration.

Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts lecture poster