Wild Poppy

In the beginning of 2018 I lived in Xiamen, China for 5 months. I had just made a short documentary about young people in The Netherlands who read each other love letters out loud. The film is my ode to the strength of vulnerability. With this subject still in mind I left for Xiamen, China.

‘WILD POPPY’

In China I heard the phrase ‘faded pearl’. It describes women that are no longer young and beautiful at a certain age and have lost some of their value. Where getting married at an early age is mostly not a question but a factuality, the younger generation is starting to question how the traditional Chinese lifestyle still fits their way of life and love relationships.

I was introduced to Poppy a twenty year old Art student. She has a very passionate view on love and strong ideas about being an independent modern woman. More and more young women are finding their own voice in China against expectations of deep-rooted traditions in society. There is a huge gap between the generations. Traditional morals and standards put a heavy pressure on young people. The first time I met Poppy she showed me a diary filled with love letters that she had written to her ex-boyfriend. She told me most boys she dates expect her to behave less wild.

In this photography and film project we see and hear Poppy and her dreams and thoughts about life and love. The main story is a love letter she wrote to an ex boyfriend, where she talks about longing to be the perfect woman for him. With ‘bigger boobs and longer legs’, and at the same time she writes him that she is having doubts about marriage as the only and ultimate expression of her love life. This mixed feeling about moral standards is felt a lot among young Chinese women and men still trying to find their identity and gender roles.

I want to present a poetic and reflective look on Chinese young lovers, dreams and life goals. A view on the pressure that society puts on young people to get married and be successful, and the vulnerability of shaping future dreams that are not real yet. All over China you see ‘ghost’ buildings and neighborhoods. Completely new but empty apartments. I met a young artist whose family had already bought her an appartement for when she would finally get married. The appartement has been empty for years now because she doesn't believe in match fixing the marriage and she is still waiting to meet the love of her life.

Photographs of promising model buildings and parks are alternated with real parks and views from yet to be inhabited apartments.

A mixture of living and dreaming.

I want to go back to Xiamen to find more love stories of young women to add to the series. Eventually I am working towards a multimedia project with a photo-series and some short films and a photo book where I will add WeChat poetry from these women. I feel the millennial women are on a verge of a breakthrough in Chinese society.

(link to a short film is private. Only for judges to view.)

https://vimeo.com/305470290

pasword: Xiamen