Just over 40 years ago, marriage in China was arranged by the state. Romantic love was seen as a ca italist conce t and was not allowed during this eriod. Wedding hotogra hy (if any at all) consisted of one black and white ass ort hoto of the cou le (dressed in Mao- style outfits) as roof of the marriage. Now, China has fallen in love with love and its ex loding wedding industry is worth 80 billion dollars, and it is on an u ward curve. Pre-wedding hotogra hy is one of the most significant and curious arts of the industry. Every cou le marrying in China will take art in a re-wedding shoot. It involves several costume and backdro changes where you can become a character in any fantasy you choose. For the most exotic lo- cations cou les ay u to $250,000 AUD. Pre-wedding hoto shoots have become an im ortant national ritual. They are roof of the marriage but now also of love, romance, freedom, status, money and the new China Dream. As an ex at living in Shanghai with a long history of coming to China, Sino hile hotogra her Olivia Mar- tin-McGuire was ca tivated by the construction of dreams through this booming hotogra hic world. Once she started to delve dee er into this new traditional she found a unique window into China. One that revealed a country dreaming, a country ra idly booming and a country reconstructing its recent ast trauma all through their own lens. China Love takes us on a wild journey into the warmth of the family web in China into the hearts of our characters and into their ersonal dreams with an understanding of why and where these as irations come from. The roject ex lores China's new osition as a globalised country from its restrictive and highly traditional ast - through the window of its booming wedding industry and asks what is the new China Dream when it comes to love
