China Diary: Fergus Coyle. A Walk Through Wuhan

China Diary: A medium format photo essay from Fergus Coyle. Pastel washed street scenes play out in Wuhan on glorious dynamic 6×8 film.

Photography by Fergus Coyle

I visited China in late 2017, staying predominantly in Wuhan, the sprawling capital of Hubei. It was an eye-opening experience, delving into both longstanding rich traditions and an inescapable influence from the west. I consider this China Diary to be a fact-finding mission, merely scratching the surface of many new and interesting stories which I look forward to further exploring on my return soon.

Stood by Yangtze. © Fergus Coyle

Urth:

In your words, please tell us how you make a living?

Fergus:

I shoot a mixture of commercial, editorial and personal projects.

Urth:

What is it about making photographs that you love the most?

Fergus:

Uncovering interesting stories.

Yellow Carne View. © Fergus Coyle

Tower Blocks. © Fergus Coyle

Balloons. © Fergus Coyle

Chen Chen. © Fergus Coyle

Bird Kite Man. © Fergus Coyle

Urth:

Favourite gear set you’re using at the moment?

Fergus:

Besides the usual digital kit, for most editorial and projects I use a pair of Fuji Medium Format cameras – a GW680III and GX680IIIs. It’s a love/hate relationship, love the lightweight portable GW rangefinder, perfect for travel and shot all my China work on it. The GX680 matches the 6×8 format and use it for portraits mostly but it’s an unwieldy beast that eats batteries for breakfast!

Cos Play. © Fergus Coyle

Urth:

Name some inspirations, photographers or otherwise.

Fergus:

Joel Sternfeld, Alec Soth, Spencer Murphy, Dan Wilton, Cathy Hyland. Some great photography coming out of China by the likes of Zhang Kechun, Yan Wang Preston, Yan Ming, Xiaoxiao Xu’s Aeronautics in the backyard is a favourite. I’m also into endurance cycling which allows for some good meditative thought time!

Great Wall Girls. © Fergus Coyle

Li River. © Fergus Coyle

YangShou Boats. © Fergus Coyle

Mulan Shan. © Fergus Coyle

Urth:

What is the most unique and interesting situation photography has landed you in, so far?

Fergus:

Some of my most memorable experiences have come from bike touring. Whilst cycling across North America in 2015, we met a bunch of cowboys in a bar in Nevada who took us to their camp in the desert. Through this encounter, I was able to shoot one of my best portraits.

Urth:

If you couldn’t be a photographer, what would you be?

Fergus:

A bike mechanic