M97 Gallery Shanghai presents "Lessons Learned in One Day," the first solo exhibition of photographic works by Sichuan-based artist Chen Chunlin. "Lessons Learned in One Day" is a series of portraits taken over the course of several years all across China in an effort to study the changing "face" and appearance of contemporary Chinese society. From major metropolitan centers like Shanghai and Beijing to remote regions of Shaanxi Province and Yunnan Province, the artist used photography as tool for documenting the changing physical appearance of people and places across the country.

CHEN Chunlin: "Sanya, South China Sea"

Each photograph comprises a series of photographs taken in the exact same location over the course of one day. "One day might seem short, but inspired by the Buddhist belief behind William Blake's poem 'To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower', I thought that one day of photographing will hold both certainties and uncertain coincidences," says Chunlin. With the goal of exploring the changing face of China through the observation of its people, Chen Chunlin started this photographic project in his hometown of Chengdu in 2003 and soon curiosity took him to other cities in Sichuan and later to other provinces and remote areas around China. As the Chinese title of this body of work implies ('Xiang' ) Chunlin's work is about the process of mutually interacting with people in a certain place and time, using photography as an almost scientific tool of measurement to take a reading of the "face" of China. In this sense, his montages become an anthropological study, or a more mystical "face reading" of the face of China as also implied by the Chinese word "" (mian xiang). Furthering this sense of study is the use of a white backdrop that temporarily isolates the subject from their environment, facilitating a more focused observation, while allowing for a more fair comparison under controlled conditions. At the same time, the photographer allows us a glimpse into the physical appearance of the surrounding environments - often seen around the edges of his studio backdrop (tree branches, a wide lane or the ocean) - to give some indication of the local context and landscape. The large scale of some of these photographs, which stand at 1.8 meters tall and 3 meters long in the gallery installation, give the viewer a sense of intimacy and bewilderment at the often-overlooked people that pass before us each and every day.

Chen Chunlin lives and works in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. This is his first solo exhibition.