Even if you’ve seen Shanghai first-hand, you’ve never seen it quite like this. JT Singh, a Shanghai-based media artist, takes viewers on a meander through the chaotic neighborhoods with his recent short, “Walk in Shanghai.” You’ll quickly realize something about this is, well, not quite right. Singh (not only the artist, but also the main character in this video) seems to be the only one walking normally. Take a look:
Walk in Shanghai from JT Singh on Vimeo.
Getting hundreds of people to simultaneously walk in the same way can’t be an easy feat. Wondering how it’s done? Spoiler: Singh is the one walking backward. The footage is shown in reverse to make it look like the main character is the only forward-facing pedestrian in the shot. Tricky! There’s even a travel lesson from the artist hidden in footage:
“The peculiar reversal of the city’s movement against [Singh]distinguishes his story from that of the other 24 million people taking 24 million walks in Shanghai. It’s through a heightened focus on one man’s seemingly unstructured journey that we discover the ultimate protagonist of this story: the transcendent power of using your legs for discovering a city.”
You can check out more of Singh’s work here.
