Urban Farmer

In recent years, with the increasingly massive developments of Chengdu (a city in China) and its surrounding areas, some regions should have been brand new according to the construction plan. However, due to lack of management, some ongoing construction projects are suspended, and this leads to lands under renovation end up being “open spaces”. Some people who live nearby soon noticed this situation, and they decided to cultivate these lands belong to themselves. When I chatting with these people, I realized that they actually have strikingly different identities: some are college professors or engineers whereas some are migrant workers or peddlers. However, it seems that they are all highly self-disciplined on their works on lands as long as they have free time. In today’s society, we are used to judge and label people according to their occupations or identities, which gradually results in the concept of social class. In this portfolio, I try to examine stereotypes of class and status from a new angle in order to rebuild them. Also, while shooting, I usually asked them: “Will you feel sad or disappointing if your land is reconstructed or destroyed?” They almost all responded in the same way: “No, of course not.” This group of work intends to record these people. And their attitude of being dedicated and free is what I want to express from my photos as well.