Community Fire
What survives when tradition meets acceleration?
In Community Fire, Zhang Xiao turns his lens toward Shehuo, a centuries old spring festival tradition in rural northern China. Known for its elaborate costumes, theatrical performances, and deeply rooted folk beliefs, Shehuo once embodied communal identity and spiritual continuity.
In the first chapter, Zhang documents the festival’s visual intensity: richly painted faces, handcrafted garments, ritual gestures, and charged atmospheres. His compositions are immersive and intimate, preserving the mystery and vitality of a tradition passed down through generations.
A decade later, he returns.
In the subsequent chapters, Products and The Present Day, the tone shifts. Plastic masks replace handmade ones. Mass-produced ornaments displace craft. The performers appear staged for tourism rather than ritual. What once felt sacred begins to feel manufactured. Through these quiet yet piercing contrasts, Zhang reveals the subtle erosion of spirit under rapid economic growth and commercialization.
Community Fire becomes more than documentation, it is a portrait of a society in transition. It asks difficult questions: Can ancient folk culture endure modernization? What happens when traditions are preserved as “intangible cultural heritage” yet transformed by industrialization and digital economy? Where does authenticity reside?
For readers interested in contemporary Chinese photography, cultural anthropology, and visual narratives of social change, this book offers depth and urgency. It is both archive and critique, a meditation on how communities evolve, and what may be lost in the process.
Click here to see book flip-through video.
Language: English & Chinese
Format: Hardcover | 192 pages
Dimensions: 235 x 180mm
Publication Year: 2023 | First Edition
ISBN: 978-1-59711-545-2
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