Giovanni Gastel, Untitled (Parrot), 2008. Courtesy of Galerie Photo12, Paris. [Photo provided to China Daily]

“In this respect, Chinese artists, who contemporary photography, have a long way to go.”

Photofairs Shanghai is organized by the World Photography Organization, founded in London in 2007. It also operates the Sony World Photography Awards.

It will hold Photofairs San Francisco from Jan 27 to 29 next year, in the Festival Pavilion at the Fort Mason Center.

Photofairs San Francisco will not only cater to Silicon Valley, but also aims to expose Chinese artists to the US West Coast.

If the works are well received, it will encourage more artists in China to engage in photography, according to Scott Gray, the CEO of the World Photography Organization.

And it may well bring Western collectors and gallerists to future Shanghai fairs.