Zhu Lanqing╱A Journey in Reverse Direction╱Special Edition

These photos were taken on Dongshan Island, located in the Zhangzhou area of Fujian Province.

Modern urban's development tends to afflict those who leave with amnesia-they forget such a place ever existed. I can only follow behind them, using images to “resist” these unforeseen changes. My hometown has been influencing me and shaping me since the day I was born. Like the beginning of a story, I found an outfit passed down from my ancestors in my mother’s room. This is how my home interacts with me. Maybe the only thing I can see is what it wants me to see. Photographing my hometown was like traveling through a dingy memory, through an internal negativity.

In the works, I use the Bachimen Dam, Home, Food, Soil, Gods, and Sea to recreate the beacons of my hometown. I've combined these memories and fragments into a book. This process seemed able to distill the spaces, people, and objects onto the pages. By imposing and removing layers, this volume exposes the significance my hometown has to me - the work is a representation of my hometown in illustrations. It is a cross section of the gradual process of urbanization, allowing us to connect with a city that is frozen in place and reflect on what home means to us.