Them

It documents the real conditions of urban and rural China from the 1970s to the 1990s. Faced with a foreign, intrusive camera, people reveal their most instinctive reactions: pedestrians on city streets pause to stare, their vigilance barely masking their curiosity; crowds pack into train stations, with some climbing through windows into moving trains; at night, travelers sleep on the station floor, wrapped in bright red quilts.

In the countryside, the elderly appear simple and warm, yet faintly puzzled; young women, shy yet expectant, cast sidelong glances filled with curiosity. Children fly kites in the fields, villagers gather at drying grounds to watch shadow-puppet plays, and local folk bands strike up drums and gongs as people beam with joy during traditional cultural festivities.

These unadorned images faithfully capture the living conditions and spiritual landscape of ordinary people in a unique period. Every glance and gesture tells a story of its time, becoming a precious repository of collective memory.

by Ruo Jian (China)