Abstract of the accomplished photographic work
Bridging
“ The fool builds walls, the wise build bridges” is a metaphor for connection and division. Bridges, as symbols of opposition and harmony, transcend materiality, becoming ties across time and space, silently conveying the dialogue between conflict and reconciliation.
The 2020 pandemic shattered global connections, reviving the notion of “walls.” Yet bridges, with their power to span, inspire us to reexamine relationships between people and between humanity and nature.
Over two years, I visited over 200 ancient bridges across China, capturing more than 600 large-format 8×10 inch negatives, and selected 70 images for this series. Through the symbol of the bridge, these works deconstruct the boundaries of time, space, and culture, exploring the complexities of connection and division in contemporary society. Bridges are both relics of history and visions of the future.
Description of the project you intend to pursue through the Prize
QUARANTA
(A dialectical counterpart to Bridging—”spear and shield” tension)
The term quarantine originates from 14th-century Venice, where ships were mandated to anchor 40 days (quaranta giorni) offshore to curb the Black Death.
As globalization fractures into regionalization, an obsession with security haunts daily life, while “walls” resurge globally. Guided by Marco Polo’s texts, this project traces the Silk Road from Beijing to Venice via Xi’an, the Hexi Corridor, Pamir Plateau, and back to Venice. It documents civilizations’ security barriers—from ancient Kashgar’s earthen walls to modern fences—exposing how subconscious “walls” reshape urban landscapes and interrogate humanity’s fragile trust amid civilizational collisions.
Executed over 1-2 years through 8×10 large-format film and digital capture, the work retraces humanity’s earliest globalization routes.