Kai Caemmerer
1988 - Present
A 2016 graduate of the photography MFA program at Columbia College Chicago, Kai Caemmerer has long been interested in the psychological resonance of architecture. Straddling a fine line between depicting places as they are and enhancing their surreal quality, Caemmerer emphasizes the uncanny ambiance of buildings. In his "Unborn Cities" series, he pairs this longstanding interest and aesthetic with a sociopolitical approach to urbanization projects in China. Part of an initiative to move 250 million citizens from rural areas, the urban developments Caemmerer photographs are eerily empty, cities that appear to be deserted but are in fact awaiting occupation. One of the 2016 Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50 photographers, Caemmerer has shown work nationally and internationally, most recently at the Tokyo International Photography Festival, United Photo Industries Gallery in New York City, and the Singapore International Photography Festival. His work has been featured in Le Monde, PBS Newshour, ARTSY, WIRED, PDN, the Daily Mail, and New Scientist, among other publications.
Text © Museum of Contemporary Photography, 2018