{"id":48769,"date":"2017-03-22T12:35:43","date_gmt":"2017-03-22T11:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=48769"},"modified":"2017-03-22T12:35:43","modified_gmt":"2017-03-22T11:35:43","slug":"ren-hang-photographs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/ren-hang-photographs\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ten Most Provocative Ren Hang Photographs"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Ren Hang died<\/a>, it was a huge shock to many in the world of art and photography. At only the age of 29, his passing sadly curtailed what looked like a highly promising career.\u00a0What makes the loss\u00a0hard to bear is the considerable amount of talent Hang had. Any look at his photographs \u2014 usually of his friends \u2014 sees his unique way of\u00a0framing the nude human body. His photos were highly explicit, yet also intimate and celebratory of the beauty of Asian bodies.
\nAdditionally, coming from a highly\u00a0conservative country when it comes to nudity, and especially when it comes to queer art, Hang’s photos were a much-needed revelation. Yet he said of his photography\u00a0that it came from a very natural plac<\/a>e: “I don\u2019t really view my work as taboo, because I don\u2019t think so much in cultural context, or political context. I don\u2019t intentionally push boundaries, I just do what I do.\u201d Nevertheless, any look at Ren Hang’s work sees him working in a highly provocative mode. In honour of the late great photographer, here is a rundown of his most boundary-pushing\u00a0work.<\/p>\n

\"Ren<\/h2>\n

“Untitled,” 2016<\/h2>\n

This above photo sums up Ren Hang’s approach to gender perfectly. There may be a woman in the middle, but the bodies surrounding her seem quite androgynous. This reflects Hang’s gender inclusivity, the photographer famously saying: <\/a>“Gender isn\u2019t important when I\u2019m taking pictures, it only matters to me when I\u2019m having sex.”
\n\"Ren<\/p>\n

“Untitled,” 2014<\/h2>\n

Countless\u00a0artists have linked flowers and nudity before. Few have done is so unabashedly as Ren Hang.
\n\"Ren<\/p>\n

“Untitled,” 2014<\/h2>\n

But it\u00a0is not only women who are blessed with flowers by Ren Hang. The photographer also extends the same courtesy to men, the\u00a0above picture granting\u00a0naked men the same sensitivity as women.
\n\"Ren<\/p>\n

“Untitled,” 2012<\/h2>\n

Ren Hang always had a fascination for erect penises. As he told Vice:<\/a> “I do think that erect penises are the most real and beautiful penises. People sometimes even forget they have a penis unless it’s erect, which I think is very powerful.”
\n\"Ren<\/p>\n

“Untitled,” 2012<\/h2>\n

Four pairs of buttocks, all rendered more or less genderless. For someone from such a patriarchal society as his native China \u2014 in which the binaries between men and women lead to a system of oppression \u2014 Hang’s rejection of the dichotomy was hailed as near-revolutionary.
\n\"Ren<\/p>\n

“Untitled,” 2016<\/h2>\n

This above photo sees one model dribbling a milky liquid on top of another. The very ambiguity is what it is gives this picture a very unsettling quality.
\n\"Ren<\/p>\n

“Untitled,” 2012<\/h2>\n

Here\u00a0a woman is seen to unabashedly love her own vagina. This self-love is a much-needed counter to the male gaze. Additionally, with a full\u00a0bush, this photo also\u00a0celebrates natural body hair.
\n\"Ren<\/p>\n

“Untitled,” 2013<\/h2>\n

One-upping his own radical depiction of the nude form, Hang brought a snake into a mix for this photo. The snake creates a sense\u00a0of danger here that comes with a certain erotic charge.
\n\"Ren<\/p>\n

“Untitled,” 2013<\/h2>\n

One of Hang’s favourite images was multiple hands on one sole body. Suggesting a highly generous\u00a0view of sex and gender, the body on offer here is seen as not impartial to group action.
\n\"Ren<\/p>\n

“Untitled,” 2015<\/h2>\n

Depicting the act of urination in the midst of spiky surroundings this photo not only makes one fearful for the model, but acts as a challenge to the viewer by being as\u00a0frank as possible.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ren Hang was one of the most influential photographers in his native China. Sleek Magazine celebrates ten of his most provocative pictures<\/p>","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":48790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11856,139],"tags":[8207,2380,7831,8208,154,7832,1850,2714],"class_list":["post-48769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sleek-art","category-art","tag-censorship","tag-china","tag-naked","tag-nudity","tag-photography","tag-provocative","tag-queer","tag-ren-hang"],"acf":{"main_category":null,"legacy":"1","exclude_from_ads":null,"hero_title":null,"subtitle":null,"hero":null,"teasers":null,"facebook_image":null,"related_articles":null,"next_article":null,"sleek_card_focus":null,"content":null},"yoast_head":"\nThe Ten Most Provocative Ren Hang Photographs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ren Hang was one of the most influential photographers in China. 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