An incredible focus on the ordinary
Exhibition offers snapshots of how photographer Yan Jiacheng zooms in on the everyday in specific ways, Yang Feiyue reports.
Foam boxes bound in layers of yellow tape, plastic buckets brimming with utensils and toiletries, battered suitcases and paper cartons strapped to foldable trolleys — through Yan Jiacheng's lens, these humble objects quietly tell the stories of their owners.
"This image is my favorite long-format photograph to date. It's a quiet observation of transience, framed through the belongings of travelers," says Yan, who's from Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province.
He shot it casually in 2021, when he wandered through a local train station and simply asked waiting passengers if he could photograph their luggage.
To his surprise, most warmly agreed to his request, and some even shared stories about what they'd packed.
"There's an unguarded intimacy in these interactions — a contrast to the usual anonymity of travel hubs," he says.
The photo is one of his Long Story series on display at his solo exhibition, Brief History of the Ordinary, at the Fotografiska in Shanghai, a contemporary museum of photography, art and culture.
With a keen eye, Yan has trained his lens on ordinary people in back-streets, transition zones between urban and rural areas, and subtle moments of collective gathering.
His work deliberately eschews grand technical narratives, opting instead for a sustained gaze at the everyday, aiming to reveal the authentic textures beneath urban facades.
