A Hundred Stories

A Hundred Stories is a semi-fantastic story about Chinese families living in northern China and Watertown village who lived in a world saturated with paradoxical elements of the old and the new.

Qinglian, who worked as a chemistry professor in southern regions of China, suffered from cancer caused by radiation. She passed away when my father was 18 years old. My grandpa, a stubborn literature Professor, was blamed for his lacking tender to her wife. Since then, chemistry and literature were considered dangerous professions among the family. Under the Down to the Countryside Movement, cultural workers were forced to become farmers, hence owning a small enterprise in town become my people’s dream.

Old rules continued to dominate society. But in some places, traditions were fading away and being supplanted by modern dreams. When I was born, a series of economic and social reforms transitioned the country away from Maoism and toward market capitalism. While the coastal regions grew, not everyone abandoned the old ways of living. This resulted in a paradoxical presence of popular culture elements and ambiguous symbols of globalization, mixed with our mundane lives.

In my project, A Hundred Stories, I photographed dwellers and family relatives living in Southern China to regions of north bordering Russia. I also intertwined modified images with family archives. Taking photographs of my hometown has given me a chance to reflect on people whom I have not valued. I found that these people, who live in a different time from the real world, and those who live in a fast-developing city, share the same mindset. The silent wind of time has continued to blow. The process brought me a strange feeling of satisfaction and grief, which only a hundred stories can reveal.