Ephemera in a Bottle

This is a photographic project about young Chinese people suspended in contemporary life. Through snapshots made with direct flash, the photographer captured and created the emotional state and atmosphere of college students that he experienced during his four years at college.

At this particular stage, college students have just completed the exhausting long-distance race of nine years of compulsory schooling and preparations for the university entrance examination, and are about to face the pressures of competition in society. They therefore hope, within this seemingly independent space and time, to create and pursue as much of the seemingly inexplicable happiness that lies ahead of them as possible.

As college students are most active at night, most of the photographs are nighttime flash snapshots. As members of such a group, the photographers hope that, through the book's use of full-bleed images or spreads, readers can draw closer to this time and space as a “member”.

The original project is an 80-page photobook, photographed in 2019–2021. These are excerpts for exhibition.