吉姆 JIM HOFMAN | Photography Faces & places in China

Analog | Village Fall Harvest
Analog | Village Fall Harvest

It’s harvest time in the village and there were lots of photo opportunities. Harvesting rice, potatos, soy beans, peas, sweet potatos and more rice.

Analog | Vintage Panflex Camera
Analog | Vintage Panflex Camera

The Shanghai Camera Mall got more of my money. I was in the mood for something COMPLETELY different than my other analog cameras, so I started investigating panoramic cameras.

Analog | Shaoxing Opera at the Village
Analog | Shaoxing Opera at the Village

I was walking through the village in the middle of October and saw a large tent erected in one of the parking lots. After asking around I found out there was a touring company performing Shaoxing Operas for 3 nights.

Analog | Village Formal Portrait Session
Analog | Village Formal Portrait Session

I decided to try a formal portrait session of some of the older people in the village a few weeks ago. Many of them had never had a formal portrait taken, so I decided to do it pro-bono as a learning exercise.

Analog | I’m YouTube-Famous Now
Analog | I'm YouTube-Famous Now

I met a YouTuber on the bus from the Shanghai airport to our government-mandated 14-day quarantine hotel in Ningbo. He was returning from the US with his family trying to out-run the COVID-19 virus that had just hit the US. I was doing the same thing – for slightly different reasons.

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 | New 4″x5″ Camera
Analog | New 4"x5" Camera

After jumping into analog photography about a year and a half ago I’ve slowly acquired cameras with larger and larger resolution (negative size). Over the summer I took the ultimate step into large format photography when I purchased a ShenHao 4×5 camera in Shanghai.

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.

Digital | Ningbo Quarantine 4.20
Digital | Ningbo Quarantine 4.20

I managed to travel to China in mid-March at a fortunate time – China had become a safe harbor as the US was dealing with the explosive growth of the COVID-19 virus pandemic. The only downside of the trip was a government-mandated 14-day quarantine in a Ningbo hotel.

Analog | Hong Kong 1.20
Analog | Hong Kong 1.20

I zig-zagged in and out of Hong Kong a few times on this trip, each time taking analog photos and getting the film processed/scanned at Dotwell in TST. I used both a Hasselblad C/M and Mamiya 6 for these – which is why everything is square. I really enjoy shooting the old neon signs in […]

Analog | Ningbo & Yangjiang 1.20
Analog | Ningbo & Yangjiang  1.20

More analog photos using a medium format Hasselblad 500 C/M. All photos were shot on Portra film. I visited my 99-year-old friend in the village again and met her 67-year-old third son. I asked about her secret for longevity and her answer was “I eat rice, vegetables, and meat every day.” That’s pretty much what […]

Analog | Thailand Monks 1.20
Analog | Thailand Monks  1.20

We took a trip to Chiang Mai in Thailand right before the Chinese New Year. On the second day of the trip, I woke up and decided I wanted to take portraits of Monks at a Buddhist temple/monastery about 3 blocks from the hotel. All of these images were shot using a Mamiya 6 medium […]

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 | Hong Kong & SZ 11.19
Analog | Hong Kong & SZ 11.19

I’ve been in Hong Kong six times since the protests began in June – and haven’t seen a single protest. I’ve seen the graffiti and the missing bricks in the sidewalks (used to block traffic), but not a single protest. I’m starting to feel like I bring calm to the city. I also spent a […]

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.