Sister Sister

© Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project © Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project © Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project View all images ↓
View all images ↓
  • Dates
    2026 - Ongoing
  • Author
  • Topics Contemporary Issues, Fine Art, Portrait
  • Locations Hong Kong, Japan
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Documenting the grow and change of my life with my soulmate, my sister. When you're alone, you feel uncertain, but having another person support you makes you feel like the whole world is with you.

<Sister Sister>documenting the grow and change of my life with my soulmate, my sister. It's incredibly fortunate to have your soulmate, who is also family, at such a young age. Often, when you're alone, you feel uncertain, but having another person support you makes you feel like the whole world is with you.

This series centers on the theme of "sisterhood," exploring how connections between women are practiced, perceived, and transmitted in daily life through ten sets of images depicting diverse scenarios.

Instead of defining "sisterhood" through grand symbols, I focus on specific, intimate moments: the tranquility of sleeping side by side in a bedroom, the urgency of running up a staircase, the interaction and unspoken understanding in a Japanese-style room, the ease of strolling through city streets, and the exuberance of a carnival on stage. These scenes range from private solitude to public interaction, and from realistic companionship to surreal metaphor.

To me, "sisterhood" is a way of life in the present continuous tense — it encompasses companionship, unspoken understanding, conflict, reliance, and mutual growth. Through these images, the series aims to let viewers feel the warmth and complexity of relationships between women, echoing the spirit of "process, dialogue, and mutual support" advocated by Sisterhood in Practice.

© Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project
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She loves wearing Lolita fashion, a style that turns sweetness into resistance. Within that world, men vanish; what matters is how a girl feels about herself—safe, beautiful, powerful in her own softness.In this erotic bar, there were many sex dolls sitting there. I wondered, if they weren't products of male desire, what would they look like? Would they look like me and my sister?

© Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project
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My mother likes to say that my little sister is like a pet—she often crawls toward us or clings closely without warning. At home, her need for touch fills the space with warmth and a strange urgency. I don’t have quite the same instinct; I love hugs too, but I need more distance, more silence.

© Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project
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My sister often says she is a Golden Retriever. Perhaps because she believes it so much, some strange changes have occurred in her body. Her paws often smell like popcorn that a puppy gives off when it's asleep, and sometimes they smell really bad. So every day after her bath, I have to disinfect her paws again.

© Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project
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In this photograph, the dim and suspenseful light of a tourist spot mirrors our polished, “cute” exteriors and the tension we carry beneath. Yet within this scene, our companionship becomes protection. Side by side, we turning shared anger into a form of care, into a sisterhood that refuses to disappear.

© Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project
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Pajamas are my favorite clothing because they're the most comfortable. In my artistic symbolism, pajamas are not only a symbol of comfort but also of power, because only those who possess power can maintain their most comfortable environment at all times.Dressed in white, we inhabit a constructed heaven, questioning innocence and performance in womanhood.

© Lean Lui - “Big Baby Now” — that’s what I say to my sister every time she gives me life advice.
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“Big Baby Now” — that’s what I say to my sister every time she gives me life advice.

© Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project
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My younger sister said she was terrified of me when she was little, and it took her a long time to develop her own independent consciousness and thinking as she grew up, escaping my influence. But I didn't realize this; did age give me a natural right to do so? I have no memory of exercising any power......but I'm glad that she gets over it.

© Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project
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This is a very old building. Inside is a fabric shop that my mother likes. Every time, my mother would spend a long time choosing fabrics, and my sister and I would play on the stairs. Our family still makes our own clothes because my grandmother used to be a seamstress.

© Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project
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We’ve shared a bed since we were little, and our bedtime playtime remains one of the happiest rituals of our lives. We often fall asleep mid-conversation, unwilling to let the day end. Sometimes we imagine a magical device that could transmit our brainwaves so we could keep talking without words—or even keep playing together in our dreams.

© Lean Lui - Image from the Sister Sister photography project
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When I saw snow falling on the green forests of Kyoto, I felt it was magical, as if all four seasons had arrived at once. Nature doesn't need Photoshop to create so many wondrous sights. Our dresses were cute spring outfits, but because of the sudden snowfall, we had to add down jackets and hats, which looked a bit out of place, just like the forest itself, green tree covered by white snow.