Picturing Urban China in Ruin: “Ghost City” Photography and Speculative Urbanization

Abstract

In recent years, the world has been captivated by the construction of so-called “ghost cities” across China. Reporters and scholars have delved into this topic at length. This article is concerned specifically with the photographic imagery that has been central to the ghost city phenomenon. It provides a close read of photographic work on ghost cities by three Western photographers: Michael Christopher Brown, Kai Caemmerer, and Tong Lam. This article situates these photographers’ images within the globally popular genre of ruin photography, and assesses their significance in terms of representing ghost cities as “hyperobjects,” fragments that refer to much larger, world-shaping forces. Figured as hyperobjects, ghost cities relate visually to urban transformations at local and supra-local scales, providing a critical window upon planetary urbanization and its varied regional and local manifestations.