Rockstar Photographers: Haibo Yu & The Chinese Painting Factories

Photographer Haibo Yu is one of the most prominent documentary photographers in contemporary China. Mr. Yu captured these intriguing images of the Dafen Oil Painting Village where the workers often paint, eat and sleep in their small studio spaces. This small town in China is widely known for its industry of mass replication of masterpieces and popular oil paintings:

One traveler’s account: “On my recent travels to China I visited Dafen painting village; A small village near the Guangzou district that produces an estimated 60 percent of the world’s cheap oil paintings. The village exports about five million paintings every year; with artists producing on average around 30 paintings a day. The majority of these paintings are copies of the old masters, just produced faster, cheaper and, in many ways better. The streets are crammed with Van Goughs, Monets and Mona Lisas, most of which will set you back a mere 50 Euros. It has to be seen to be believed.”