Focusing on the blur

Merolla is particularly fond of capturing how the elderly and youth live in and view contemporary China. Several years of living in China have equipped her with an acute awareness of the country's progress.

"Progress in western China is most evident," she says.

"I've seen the Chinese trying to work out the equilibrium between cities and countryside. But there are still enormous tasks they must face, such as pollution and urbanization. But I am here because I want to see, not to judge. I am interested to see how it works."

She is now in a transition with her photographic style, she says, aiming to put photography and anthropology together.

"If you live in a megacity like Beijing, when you go to rural China, you can feel the development there is 30 years behind - one of the reasons for the migrant waves in big cities. This is one part of my urban anthropology research."

Merolla first came to China in 2005 and enrolled in a PhD program of contemporary Chinese cultural studies in Shanghai for three years. Over that time, the study of the overlay of Chinese cultural recognition and memory enabled her to concentrate on taking black-and-white pictures.

She was born and raised in Naples, where she obtained a master's degree in oriental cultures and languages in 2004. She says the talent she has developed is a combination of two ancient cultures that freed her from mediocrity.

She is happy to get feedback from Chinese people about her work, she says. Their suggestions help her explore future topics for her "memory shots".

"My Chinese viewers have said to me that they can see realistic visions of China in my pictures. As for the feedback, even I know the picture is not exactly a mirror," she says.

"You have your own view, and I would like to share a kind of vision with the people inside my photos. They can understand, and they can share, too. I would like them to feel something with my pictures, to feel like at home."

Contact the writer at zhanglei@chinadaily.com.cn.