Chinese Turkistan
by Documentary Photographer Ryan Pyle
Opens August 6th through to September 25th 2009
At the Dylan Ellis Gallery

Lecture 6:30PM
Reception 7-9PM

About the Show
The show is an exhibit or 30x40 and 20x24 prints taken by Ryan Pyle and will run from August into September at the Dylan Ellis Gallery located inside Elevator Digital in Toronto.

Go here and click on portfolio to see some of the work: http://www.elevatordigital.ca/deg/?ryan


Show Blurb
Surrounded on three sides by some of the highest mountain ranges in the world, with the Gobi desert blocking the forth, Chinese Turkistan is one of the most isolated places on earth.
As his project has progressed, Ryan has begun to take a closer look at life in this region. Drawn by its vast size, colorful minorities, harsh landscapes and Islamic foundation; Ryan visits mosques, local herdsmen, farming communities and former silk road trading posts trying to capture what he feels is a collection of cultures under threat from China's breakneck growth in the region.

"The culture is vanishing before my eyes", Ryan says, "each time I return something is missing: a market, an old shop full of blacksmiths, a local mosque." Traveling only with a Uygur translator, Ryan feels that the importance of capturing these cultures is paramount because it is disappearing. "No other country in the world is knocking down old buildings faster to make way for new hotels, highways and airports than China. A few more years and there might not be much left at all; the whole country, from Beijing to Kashgar, is starting to look the same. It is a pity really, that the cultural diversity being lost is not something that can be faked, or easily brought back. This cultural fabric will be lost forever.



About Ryan Pyle
Ryan was recently acknowledged as one of the PDN 30 (http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/index.jsp; http://www.pdngallery.com/gallery/pdns30/2009/) and Magenta Flash Forward (http://www.magentafoundation.org/boo...-forward-2009/) ; awards given out to emerging photographers. He has also won awards in the PDN Photo Annual and Banff Mountain Culture competitions. Ryan lectures widely on China and its development and regularly contributes written opinion pieces to several publications dealing with photography, photojournalism and China.

Joining a long tradition of documentary photography, Ryan's documentation of Chinese Turkistan melds this tradition with that of fine art film photography. Each print in this show is hand printed in a wet darkroom, the processes echoing the images.

Ryan will speak about his work Thursday, August 6th at 6:30PM. The reception will be held from 7PM-9PM.


Show Details
Date: Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Time: Lecture at 6:30PM;
Reception begins at 7PM
Location: Dylan Ellis Gallery inside Elevator Digital

42 Industrial Street
Map: http://www.elevatordigital.ca/deg/?contact
RSVP to: rsvp@elevatordigital.ca