{"product_id":"lin-shu-ouroboros","title":"Lin Shu: Ouroboros","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn 2020, I returned to my hometown of Ningde, Fujian, to take photographs. After years away, I had always wanted to escape this place. But when life took an unexpected turn, I found myself drawn back.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe color photographs document local folk beliefs and everyday life, while the black-and-white images capture the final stage of my father's life. Local traditions, in which humans and gods coexist, became intertwined with my personal experience of life and death.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFolk beliefs are deeply woven into everyday life in Fujian. In Ningde, people worship a monkey deity; in Zherong, they worship the goddess Ma Xian, who often manifests as a toad. There are also Mazu, Guan Yu, Nezha, and the Dragon King. Each \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003ejing\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, a local territorial community, has its own temple and guardian deity, much like the Earth God who watches over a particular area.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDuring the pandemic, all processions of the gods were canceled, and temples remained closed. I visited more than a dozen temples across different \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003ejing\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, but their architecture and layouts were so similar that I began to grow tired of photographing them. I almost ran out of things to photograph. Yet there was always a way in, if you knew where to look. Even when large public ceremonies were impossible, the need to pray could not be shut away.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe book's title, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOuroboros\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, refers to a cycle: the moment I press the shutter, everything has already become the past. But when I look back at the photographs, that past returns to the present. Through these images, I came to understand anew how my hometown had shaped me, and in doing so, gained a new understanding of myself.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jiazazhi","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68204971262063,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0138\/9366\/4822\/files\/1_daa4b902-9902-45d0-810d-123f9f310a12.png?v=1793860387","url":"https:\/\/jiazazhistore.com\/products\/lin-shu-ouroboros","provider":"Jiazazhi","version":"1.0","type":"link"}