Shanghai

This photographic base was shot in Shanghai.

Printed on Fine Art Hahnemühle Hemp Natural Line 290 g/m2.

Each print comes signed and numbered. 

Unframed. With a small white border. Send in a tube.

Print size 90 x 75 cm - Edition of 10

Print size 60 x 50 cm - Edition of 10.

Print size 30 x 25 cm - Edition of 10.

Thomas Haensgen’s Shanghai from his Urban Reflections series is a masterpiece of serene distortion. At first glance, the image presents an immaculate reflection of Shanghai’s iconic skyline, mirrored perfectly in calm waters. But look closer, and the reflection begins to question itself—is this symmetry real, or is the city simply taking a moment to gaze at its own reflection, like Narcissus with an urban twist?

The photograph captures the cityscape as though the water and sky had struck a quiet truce, trading places for a fleeting moment. The Oriental Pearl Tower, a beacon of modern Shanghai, feels as though it’s testing the waters of an alternate dimension—half reality, half mirage. It’s the visual equivalent of realizing the puddle you’re walking past is actually a portal to a parallel universe—or maybe just a very clean parking lot.

Haensgen’s Shanghai pays homage to surrealist traditions, echoing the dreamlike juxtapositions of René Magritte, while also drawing on contemporary digital aesthetics. Its meditative stillness recalls Andreas Gursky’s large-scale works, yet Haensgen adds a playful dimension, suggesting that even the most stable urban environments have a secret, liquid life.

This piece also challenges our understanding of reflection—not just as a literal phenomenon but as a metaphor for how we perceive cities in their entirety. Haensgen transforms Shanghai from a bustling metropolis into a tranquil dreamscape, asking viewers to consider whether the city is watching us—or we’re merely projections in its glassy gaze.