Edition size: 1,000,
Hardcover, 32 x 24 cm, 232 pages,
Design by Didier Quarroz,
Published by Ka Xiaoxi Studio,
2015, Shanghai, China
Special Cover by Samepaper and ZINAN LAM
Never Say Goodbye to Planet Booze 2015
Words by JIANCUI
“But there were all manner of averages and laws working that you knew nothing about, even as you imagined things were going well.”
--- Charles Bukowski Hot Water Music
When Ka Xiaoxi shows up at a midnight club with camera, he’s more like a shadow hiding in the corners. But I have to say, what I just said doesn’t mean that he would hide his camera inside the jacket or do whatever a spy would do. Most of the time, he just randomly clicks the camera. Only when you see the flash of that moment, you know he is taking action. This is his life, and also his art.
In the past few years, Ka Xiaoxi has been taking a lot of portraits of Chinese young generation, who are designers, musicians and artists, or some are just cool fashion kids. They party down at some bars, night clubs, music festivals and some private spaces. Some of them are Ka's friends and the others are just strangers, creating the moments on his film.
His creations are connected to his growth environment. In the past 15 years, the subculture situation in China continued to be existed as a kind of observation. But after he started taking photos for eight years, the subculture has become a main stream. Those people who in his photos actually show the changes of the times – music festivals, E-dance music and fashion scenes, doing whatever they want to have fun and voice to the world.
Shanghai, which appeared thousands of times in Ka Xiaoxi’s photos, brought a lot of possibilities for the content. If the people who in the photo is cool which shows that people who surround him are cool as well. Just like the street of Harajuku in Moriyama Daido’s shots, Ka Xiaoxi uses his films as memory cards to capture those amazing moments in Shanghai. Different from Terry Richardson who excessively renders temporary life, the eastern implicit expression and unique insights made up Ka Xiaoxi’s unique visual aesthetics, for all those people, landscapes and girls.
After Ka Xiaoxi's last photo book A Fragment of China's Youth, this new released Never Say Goodbye to Planet Booze will take people to a longer and deeper journey to his youth and generation, by over 200 photos made during 2012 to 2015. While the accompanying exhibition with hundreds of large photographs will present a full and real planet booze to visitors.
酒精星球永不别
文/健崔
“就算当你以为一切都很顺利时，依旧会有各种几率与法则在运算着，你一点都不会察觉到。”
- - - 查尔斯·布考斯基《苦水音乐》
拿着相机出现在午夜俱乐部中的咖小西是一个隐藏在角落里的影子。他并不像间谍一样会刻意将手中的相机藏在衣服里，他一直和朋友一起听音乐、喝酒、跳舞、买下一轮的酒，偶尔出现在人群中暗下快门并用闪光灯挑逗那些陌生的身影。这就是他的生活，也是他的创作。
在过往的几年中，咖小西拍摄了大量的人像，这些人都是与他年纪相仿的青年人，有设计师，音乐人和艺术家，也有单纯时髦的小青年，他们大多在酒吧夜店、音乐节或更多玩闹的私人密闭空间中尽情地狂欢。这些面孔有些是摄影师本人的朋友，有些则被他偶然地留在了底片上。今天这个“酒精星球”的成员，是这些充满了能量的个体，我们看到的众多瞬间，都停留在了“狂喜”二字上。
作为咖小西创作的主战场，上海这座城市为他的内容带来了太多可能性。如他所拍下的人是酷的，那他身边的人都是酷的。就像森山大道镜头中的原宿街头，在这种语境下，咖小西只是一个记录者，他拍下的是狂欢的切片。而他的创作又不同于Terry Richardson一样对现代生活过度使用，来自东方人独特的含蓄与洞察力，组成了属于咖小西自己独特的视觉审美观，对于镜头下的人群，风景和女孩们，无一例外。
在《酒精星球永不别》中，二百多张的相片将发生在2012年至2015年间的故事进行了一次全面汇总, 这是继咖小西上本影集A Fragment of China's Youth之后的再一次青春告别和时代写真。而在其同名主题的展览中，近百张大幅相片的展示也将酒精星球做了一次最彻底的呈现。
Edition size: 500
Hardcover, 21 x 28.3 cm
Number of pages: 208
Type of printing: Four color Offset Print
Type of paper: Antalis Brisky 120g & woodfree paper 85g
Number of pictures: 154
LIGHT ROOM
《馆子》，一本收录十七位中国年轻摄影师作品的摄影书。在这个洪水猛兽的时代里， 这些摄影师不算浮躁，还在拧把地使用着传统相机，在冲取胶片的路上盘算余下的钞票够去哪儿走走，今后拍些什么，该怎么拍，相机是他们与这个世界较量的最好方式。
Light Room is a photography book released by Goooodie.com, showcasing works by 17 young Chinese photographers. In our treacherous and grotesque age, these are the ones who have not been carried away. They still stick to traditional film cameras, and already come up with new plans for the next destination and next shoot with their last penny, even on the way to develop film rolls. As a matter of fact, cameras are their arms in the wrestling with the reality.
SOLD OUT
44 page & 42 pics, 17.3 x 25 cm,
Sensation artist paper 200g,
Limited & numbered 250,
Design by Didier Quarroz,
Published by sndmr.com with Goooodie
A Fragment of China’s Youth
“相机于我来说是最便捷的,它留下的瞬间即时空的重叠,是一种幸运和偶然。镜头中这一代汲取着摇滚乐、亚文化和艺术养分长大、充满理想与抱负,有时却无能为力的青年们,正享受前所未有的自由,也对 抗着新的束缚。如能从这些零散的照片中读出一点激情和坦诚,我便欣慰,感谢你们。”
咖小西，兼有策展人、出版人身份的年轻摄影师，现生活工作于上海。
Ka Xiaoxi is a young chinese photographer and curator living in Shanghai. For this book, Ka is lifting the blanket and gives you an intimate insight into his personal environment and the young urban china.