Random Places

Travelling abroad has never been easier nowadays with well-developed transportation and flourishing information technology. However, what I concern about is: “Do we think beautiful scenery only exists in far-away places and cannot be connected with our daily life?”; “Is it possible to find beauty in ordinary scenes we encounter in our daily life if we look closely enough?" This series of self-dialogues has inspired me to explore the neglected scenery in my neighbourhood. Specifically I have roamed among the streets within 10 blocks from my residence in search of the unseen extraordinary places in my everyday life. Through the project, I have transformed each of my daily walks into a journey of self-exploration. “What is beauty? How can I perceive the beauty in the ordinary scenes along the paths?” Through constantly strolling along the streets in my neighbourhood and carefully exploring their styles and features, I gradually notice an atmosphere of simplicity and tranquility among them. By making use of the relativity among subjects in the frame and the crossed real and imaginary scenes in the light and shadows, I have experienced the charm between reality and visions and drawn a new contour for daily beautiful scenery. Intentionally avoiding particular local landmarks, I constructed visual aesthetics from anonymous streets, fences, walls, etc., through which I tried to make a connection with the viewers and convey the idea that no matter what city we live in, as long as we think carefully and focus on the very moment, we will be able to find visual sensation in our plain and dull real life among ordinary lanes and alleys. I also tried to raise the possibility that as long as we are mindful enough, we can transform every ordinary experience into a realistic and beautiful moment.