吉姆 JIM HOFMAN | Photography Faces & places in China

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Analog | Village – The First 3 Months
Analog | Village - The First 3 Months

I moved to China (permanently) in early March of 2024, set up my film lab in my new kitchen and immediately began shooting the 400 rolls of film I brought from the US. My first stop was the village. All of these were taken on a Leica M7 using either a Voightlander or Leica 28mm […]

Analog | The Village after Covid
Analog | The Village after Covid

I was relieved to see all of my village friends survived the December of 2022 Covid wave that swept through China.

Analog | Ningbo after Covid
Analog | Ningbo after Covid

I spent a month back in Ningbo after the big Covid wave of December 2022. It was great to see China back to normal.

Analog | Returning to the Village
Analog | Returning to the Village

It took me over 15 months before I was able to return to China to continue my documentation of the final years of this 400-year-old village.

Analog | Yangjiang
Analog | Yangjiang

It’s been over two years since I was last in Yangjiang and it was nice to spend some time there.

Analog | Leaving China after 14 Months
Analog | Leaving China after 14 Months

Well… that was a long business trip. Really long and really amazing. I essentially sat out the pandemic in China – which was one of the safest Covid bubbles on the planet. It was really tough packing up my apartment at the end of my odyssey. I had accumulated a lot of stuff over 14 […]

Analog | One Year in China
Analog | One Year in China

This week is the one-year anniversary of coming to China in March of 2020. I came to Ningbo with the plan to stay for 6 weeks for a business trip. A few days after I arrived China closed the borders (still not reopened a year later) and the Covid cases in the US spiked.

Analog | January 2021 – 10 YEARS!
Analog | January 2021 - 10 YEARS!

This post marks the 10 year anniversary of this photoblog. It also coincides with the publication of Volume 2 of my village series.

Analog | Winter Travel & Ningbo
Analog | Winter Travel & Ningbo

Some assorted photos using assorted cameras and assorted film stocks. These are the final photos taken in 2020.

Analog | Black & White Film
Analog | Black & White Film

Because the local photo lab is getting slow and expensive I decided to start developing and scanning my own black and white film. I already do that in the US, but it requires some gear and chemicals to get it done here in China. After I was here for about 6 months I decided to set up a film processing lab in my AirBnB kitchen – which I never use.

Analog – Summer 2020
Analog - Summer 2020

My six-week trip turned into an “indefinite” length trip because of COVID-19 related issues (closed borders, lack of flights, lockdowns, etc.). I had plenty of opportunities to work on my photo project in the village and travel around China to capture analog photos on my Mamiya 6 and Hasselblad 500 C/M. Most of these photos were taken using Portra 400 film.

Analog | Ningbo Village 5.20
Analog | Ningbo Village 5.20

More street portraits from the village in Ningbo. I’ve entered a new stage in this project because in early May I printed a photo book with all of the images I had shot and distributed the book to everyone in the village who had allowed me to take their portrait. This created an incentive for […]

Book Release Day in the Village 5.11.20
Book Release Day in the Village 5.11.20

I self-published my first book of analog photographs in early May of 2020 and distributed free copies to everyone in the small village outside of Ningbo where I took the portraits. It was quite the event in the village. Smiles, bewilderment, and a few tears. No one knew I was publishing a book. I would […]

Analog | Ningbo Village 4.20
Analog | Ningbo Village 4.20

I’m back at the village after my 2 weeks in prison (Covid-19 quarantine). The weather is gorgeous in Ningbo and my friends in the village missed me.

Analog | Ningbo Village II 11.19
Analog | Ningbo Village II  11.19

After spending a month this summer photographing the people in a small village outside of Ningbo, I returned in October to continue my mission of taking environmental street portraits of the inhabitants. As has become my custom, I returned with prints of the portraits to give to anyone who volunteered. Apparently my project went viral […]

Analog | Ningbo Village 8.19
Analog | Ningbo Village 8.19

My summer project was a little different than my usual street photography. I took environmental street portraits in a small village adjacent to a factory I collaborate with in Ningbo. I also created a video of the process and included some of the back-story about the village.

Hong Kong 8.18
Hong Kong 8.18

I made three stops in Hong Kong during my five-week summer trip.  Plenty of time for some photos in the extreme heat and humidity.  I used a USB-powered lens warmer to pre-heat my lens so it didn’t fog up when I left my air-conditioned hotel room.

Hong Kong 11.17
Hong Kong 11.17

Two quick passes through Hong Kong on this trip – arriving and departing on a three week trip to China. The weather in October is always amazing.  No humidity or big heat. 

Shenzhen 10.17
Shenzhen 10.17

I use Shenzhen as my pivot point as I travel to other cities in China on business.  The Shekou area is very western and very comfortable on the weekends.  The food is great and the beer is cold.

Hong Kong 8.17
Hong Kong 8.17

Five-mile street photography walk + strained knee ligament = real pain.  But worth it.

Yangjiang 7.17
Yangjiang 7.17

I participated in the first ever Yangjiang Street Photography Photo Walk this week.  There was three of us, but only two photographers.

Kathmandu 7.17
Kathmandu  7.17

An amazing place – only a 4-hour flight from Guangzhou, but decades behind China.  We arrived prepared for Nepal’s summer monsoon season but returned with sun burns because of the unusually beautiful weather in July.

Hong Kong 3.17
Hong Kong  3.17

I enjoyed a whirlwind photo walk in TST and Mong Kok for a few hours before flying home. I logged 9.2 miles of walking and got some interesting close-up shots. I used the 14mm f2.8 lens on the Fuji X-Pro2 for all of these images.

Ningbo 3.17
Ningbo 3.17

Ningbo was cold and crappy – except for one day, which was like a glimpse of spring. But it was just a tease.