休 Of Human Of tree

The project xiu （休）photograph is the scene of transformation as it happens: humans walking step by step toward trees, trees walking step by step toward humans.In the very end, All things cycle and return, forever one.

A Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi once said, “Heaven and earth were born together with me, and the myriad things are one with me.”Jia Yi wrote: “All things  flow and shift, now pushed forth, now drawn back. Form and breath continue, transforming without end.”

This project states a fact: there has never been a wall between humans and trees.

This project is called Xiu (休), with the English title Of Human Of tree.

Xiu is an ancient Chinese character. In oracle bone script, its left side is a person in profile, and its right side is a tree.

Of Human, Of Tree does not translate Xiu. It walks beside it. Two phrases, side by side.

What I photograph is the scene of transformation as it happens: humans walking step by step toward trees, trees walking step by step toward humans.

Humans are the most perceptive, expressive, and active beings between heaven and earth. Trees become human because they want to speak, to walk, to be seen. They want to move from being “seen” to “seeing,” from being “worshipped” to “worshipping.”

And humans are also becoming trees. They are tired of the world’s speed, longing for some kind of escape, wanting to live in “tree time.” They endure the blows of the world, cannot control the universe, and can only try to stand firm.

Living like a tree is not just exhaustion; it is also a form of self-protection.

In the very end, All things cycle and return, forever one.