citywalk溜达溜达, 2023 (work in progress)
35mm film
Chengdu, Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu

A visual diary of my encounters with Beijing, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and Guangdong in summer 2023. “city walk”, a traveling style that focuses on the spontaneity of encounters insted of following popular routines, has become increasingly popular among young Chinese netizens who are fed up with isolation. While city walk often implicates gentrified middle class consumption, I am interested in the potential of “citywalk” (溜达溜达) that recovers the liveliness of street cultures and reimagine a “closeness” that is neither too far nor too near. Being back in China for the first time in two years, I photographed these mundane moments on the streets that are often overlooked but are precious to the rhythm of life. Taken a few months after a wave of Covid-19 mass deaths, these photos speak to my observations of my people’s wounded survival and the tender recovery of everyday life in the pandemic’s aftermath.