Born in Nong’an (northeastern China), on March 30, 1987, Ren Hang 任航 was a photographer. At the tender age of 29, February 23, 2017, he committed suicide. The Chinese authorities, unsurprisingly, did not appreciate his images, and consequently censored him several times. It is said that Hang was depressed, and suicide is always an option for someone who is depressed. It is important to understand this, because someone who is “truly” depressed, not someone who is experiencing seasonal depression (occasional, etc., four months and I’ll write a book… follow the clue), “wants” every day, to end it all, even several times a day, this “desire” comes to him. To tell the truth, the term “desire” is inappropriate; it is a very strong impulse, which should not be associated with the infamous “death drive” (Todestrieb), because even non-depressive people are affected by the death drive, an impulse that never leads them to suicide, because, once again, it is not the same thing.     

What strikes you when you look at Reng’s photographs is the extraordinary “pop-artyness” of their brilliance. I mean, if there was ever a Pop Art artist, it was him! Look at these images (here)! They are pop, sparkling, super fresh.

Hang had a knack for placing naked bodies in completely unlikely positions, contrary to Western « clichés » and expectations regarding gendered nudity. In fact, Hang does not eroticize the female body any more than the male body, as we so often expect from the Western gaze (the infamous “male gaze,” as if it were only something Westerner, when in fact it is most likely universal, period!). And then, it must be said, these are not the same bodies; the Asian body is different, and Hang didn’t care about looking for Kardashians nor Brad Pitts models; to such an extent that, sometimes, we don’t really know what gender the body we are looking at is, since, in fact, it doesn’t matter. But Hang didn’t systematically hide sexual “identity”; it all depended on the staging he had in mind, because of course there are sexualized shots, but they are never vulgar, although sometimes raw, which is not the same thing.  

Every French speaker is familiar with the expression « cul par dessus tête », which, literally, means “arse over head”, a bit close to “arse over tit”, namely, “to be upside down”, in disarray. But in this case, the expression is very appropriate. We obviously notice the stuffed dove straddling on buttocks. A symbol of peace, or farts inhaler… it depends. Also, we are aware that the difference in curvature between the rear and the neck is only a matter of degree, and that, in fact, we can easily think of expressions such as “face like a smacked …”, “have your head up you’re …, etc. So, at first glance, looking at this image, one might ask, “Where is the bottom and where is the top?” 

A glimpse of Hang sense of humor. At first glance, it appears to be a sex scene (prudish and sanctimonious people would call it “pornographic”). Supposedly a prelude to a sex scene, except that the young woman does not seem, to say the least, “to be in her element.” The honest man, in this case, will obviously move on (so to speak). The young woman has somewhat questionable soles; we can assume that she’s been walking around the place for a while before finally falling headfirst into her haven.    

The position of the bodies, arranged in a very flexible staggered pattern, cannot really be sexualized; the image becomes, rather, gently comical. I would say that Han photographs could be described as candy-like : flexible, friendly, smiling, sweet. It must be emphasized that the positions requested by Han are often desexualized, even totally improbable, and that is what makes them so original. But that does not mean that there is never any sexualization. The following photo is certainly one of his most famous, the “body landscape” 身體景觀 :

There is, I find, something both sublime and comical here. And then, just that, this idea of stretching out bodies to create a landscape of soft dunes… It’s very poetic. Buttocks 臀部 stretching into infinity. And this young photographer, who committed suicide, died so young, while scum live to be ninety… Yes we know the world is unfair. But let’s go for a walk through Hang’s landscapes instead; let’s sink a little into these fleshy dunes, which remain united, unlike sticky sand. Let’s feel them vibrate under our feet and commune with their young lives under the blue sky. What a wonderful walk!

(The reverse version — body on the back — exists, but it is less poetic, less rhythmic.)

A meagre portion turns weird, as in here 

It’s simple, but it works. As is often the case with Hang, there’s a mixture of strangeness and humour. Should we explain what the eye can understand on its own?

We could examine many more of Hang’s images, but we must know when to stop, lest we risk repetition and semantic inanity, which we avoid as best we can.

Rest in peace, Ren 靈魂安息 任