Chinese Photographer Ren Hang Dies at the Age of 29
On Friday, February 24, a well-known Chinese photographer Ren Hang passed away at the age of 29. According to Dazed, the news about his death was confirmed by friends and colleagues. “My friend Ren Hang left us this morning in Berlin,” publisher Pierre Bessard wrote. “I am sad and in shock.”
According to Belgian DeMorgen, the death was the result of suicide, as people close to the photographer told the journalists.
Ren Hang had a scandalous reputation, first of all in his native China, the country he did not want to leave despite being famous internationally and being persecuted by the authorities. Belgian gallerist Dries Roelens, whose gallery currently exhibits Ren Hang’s works, says that he always experienced difficulties with showing his radical views on art. Hang’s photographs were filled with sexuality and humour, and it is a controversial and unprecedented for Chinese photography style, Roelens says.
