Peking Wood

100 years ago, Beijing was known as Beiping, and the young people of China at that time shouted for their state; 100 years later, Beiping has transformed into Beijing, and the youth now shout for themselves. For today's youth, strong cultural conflict brings about contradictory thoughts, diverse values and valuations bring about contradictory behaviors, and double standards bring about hidden crises. The prosperous Beijing resembles vast steel woods where the youth are living quietly. I stepped into their living space which is not large physically but more like a grand stage presenting their most authentic selves in everyday life.   Inspired by Jeff Wall’s photography as conceptual art, I present this series of photographs in contemporary China's most diverse, modern, and mysterious city, Beijing. Through housing, self-awareness, belief, feminism, sexuality, education, and other aspects, I aim to portray individual differences and the rich inner lives of Beijing youth. Unlike Jeff Wall, I used full-frame digital camera to create similar artistic effects. My photographs highlight the contradictions between people and their environment by breaking the perspective relationship. By reflecting that life is both factual fiction and fictional fact, I attempted to blur image medium boundaries. The social evaluation system and rules are disconnected from the true spirit of youth, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion.   But what I am certain of is that in these rooms, I see the self-vision of contemporary young people. They move away from their hometowns to pursue their ideals, but leaving does not necessarily mean actualizing self. They are influenced by diverse cultures, their inner beliefs are constantly changing, and traditional elements in their external space are gradually disappearing. For contemporary Chinese youth, this may reflect their confusion and struggle, and signify the intertwining of reality and dreams.