William Aitchison “China quick-fix”


"Electric bike"



"Satisfaction register"


"Armchair"



"Bridge"



"Satellite dish"



"QF zone"
China quick-fix: This series explores the phenomenon of the ‘quick-fixes’ (improvised repairs) that can be seen widely on the streets and in homes across China. These seemingly spontaneous and insignificant quick-fixes, when viewed as a whole, offer a unique way of viewing contemporary Chinese society itself. This sizeable photographic archive of quick-fixes jumps across fields connecting documentary photography to craft techniques, generational politics, decision making processes, the status of public space, wealth distribution and recycling, to name but a few of the directions it shoots out in. It provides a ground level view of China during its current period of rapid urbanisation and modernisation and considers the quick-fix as the contemporary Chinese modus operandi. Rather than seeing them as a negative thing, however, this photo series communicates some of the creativity that can be found in quick-fixes whilst not forgetting the reasons that require them in the first place. William Aitchison