Art & Exhibitions
Bizarre Facekini Portraits Premiere at Amelia Johnson Gallery in Hong Kong
Philipp Engelhorn captures China's latest trend in a stunning series of photographs.
Zoe Li
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First it was an oddity, then it made it to the pages of a fashion magazine. Now, the facekini is heading into the fine art realm.
Award-winning documentary and travel photographer Philipp Engelhorn has captured stunning portraits of swimmers in China’s eastern Qingdao province. The German-born Hong Kong resident will be showing them in a solo exhibition at Hong Kong’s Amelia Johnson Contemporary later this month.
“In Germany; if you were to go a beach dressed like this, people would be like, ‘What the hell?’” said Engelhorn. “But in Qingdao they were like, ‘This is how we do it, why don’t you do it too?’”
Posing proudly in the early morning light, the swimmers protect themselves with bright hoods that cover their entire faces like balaclavas. The rest of their bodies are also clad in colorful swim gear, from a full bodysuit of scarlet polka dots, à la Yayoi Kusama, to smart swim-dresses that wouldn’t look out of place at a dinner party.
The quirky swimwear protects from the sun’s harmful rays as well as the area’s giant stinging jellyfish. A facekini can cost as little as $2 online, and up to $24.
When the photographer first started trying to capture the swimmers, they kept posing with a peace sign — China’s de rigeur pose. When he asked the swimmers to try something different, they began Chinese opera-inspired stances.
Philipp Engelhorn’s exhibition “Qingdao Beach No. 1” will run at Amelia Johnson Contemporary from November 26 to December 3.
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