$12.48
- Softcover
- 96 pages
- 150 x 210 mm
- 2023
"Before, 19" is a photo book about trainspotting, sleeps and dreams, the eternal innocence of children hood, and memories captured in blurry or clear instants, as well as some situations and recollections written on the road that were difficult to distinguish where I'd situated in. The writings were mostly in the native language as I am a Mandarin speaker, yet sometimes, it was written in English because of the adaptation of enduring traveler. It's almost 9 thousands words spread into ten parts, some of them are like micro fictions and some are poetic; I tend to remain its original form in the book, to tell the mood of what happened in that currents. Some of these images were taken in the beginning of Millennium, and some were taken just right before the COVID-19 lockdown began. To sum up, they are a record of my life as a digital nomad in and out Taiwan for more than a decade before the pandemic; as well as, a ruminative footnote I personally made, by looking at its impact on people's migration from the pre-Covid-19 era. The typography of the title and name are melted and spread out on the cover to indicate the contents; the flickering of hazy dots represent the virus in our lives, that has appeared on and vanished off in the sweep of human history unconsciously. The shimmering image of silver/black duotone prints are an inscription of time and space, as well as a tribute dedicated to the nostalgia of photography. To everyone who has laid eyes on me.
It's a shortlisted of 'Portfolio Review' at 2024 Kyotographie International Photography Festival.