I am there, I am not there
After previous project ‘Reasons to Travel’, exploring the idea of travel and home, I started to be
interested in the relationship between people and the space, how does it influence and reflect
our everyday life, especially for the space we spend most of our time within, home.
In the project, I photographed domestic spaces from different houses where I’ve stayed or
visited. Instead of the human figures of the residents, in the images, you can only see the traces
of them, the evidence of the existence and the clues reflecting who they are, which are made to
trigger the viewers’ curiosity toward other people’s personal life. They are invited to peep into a
strange house.
However, The authenticity of photography is being challenged and questioned here. In
contemporary art, the boundary and distinction between documentary and studio photography
are disappearing. From 1930, Bill Brandt was selecting locations and recruiting models to
make pseudo-documentary scene. Jeff Wall can rebuild a nightclub in his studio while Philip
Lorca di-Corcia was shooting street portraits with all the artificial lighting even without sitters’
notice. The definition of reality in photography is changing, what we’ve seen are not necessary
believing.  Reality depends on the perceived notion of real. Even the most natural-looking
everyday life scenes can be staged.
Home, the most intimate spaces in our life, should be reflecting the occupants’ personalities
and everyday routine. However, the objects in the images are the real belongings from the
residents, while the displays are staged, indicating that even the most personal place can be
deceiving. Photography is not a truth carrier rather than a storyteller. It tells parts of the tenants’
life, while keeping rest of them in mystery. While viewer’s curiosities are being triggered,
wondering about who’s living here and what kind of life he/she has, at the same time, they are
being fooled by photography and the artist. The pictures here are oscillating between real and
fiction.