A Shenzhen Wasteland

As a favor to Jesse Warren, I hopped on a plane and flew down to Shenzhen to shoot the 2009 China Surf Open. Jesse has probably done more than anyone to promote the sport of surfing in Shenzhen and he put in a ton of time and effort to organize the event. I went a few days early to catch up with friends and see about some possible exhibitions in the coming year. Everything was looking good until 24 hours prior to the competition. That's when the wave report made it evident that the surfers would be "surfing" on flat seas. Unfortunately, Jesse was forced to postpone the event.

Not being ones to whine about misfortune, we decided to head to a neighborhood in the Central Business District that was being demolished for a bit of night time photography reminiscent of the future a la Terminator; hopefully minus all the skulls and dead bodies. For those of you who don't know Jesse's work, he has spent the past five years creating some fab photos of Shenzhen at night and he has a penchant for getting onto the rooftops of the city's tallest skyscrapers. Dave Learn came along for the shoot too.

So lace up your boots and prepare to enter a Shenzhen Wasteland.

We considered trying to go inside this one, but decided against it - wisely.

The beast that brought down the neighborhood.

Jesse takes a break to remember the old neighborhood.

One of the last buildings still standing. Anyone need a 48RMB ($7)hotel room?

We finally found a building that we felt was safe enough (sort of) to climb for a better view.

Dave at ISO 256000.

Straddling the void.

Jesse managed to find yet another place to chill. House party anyone? Any idea what this is? Shot courtesy Dave Learn.

The way out. We decided not to go any higher. Shot courtesy Dave Learn.

More on the trip to come. Happy Holidays to all and a fond farewell to Gangxia West Village....