Jiuer sits for a family portrait with her husband and three daughters in Liaoning, China. She says: “Love is the luggage that accompanies us all our lives.”
This project is a private visual record that explores the concept of family photos. In close collaboration with the family, the photographer tells the story of Jiuer, a young mother of three in northern China who gains more understanding and appreciation for life in her final years after being diagnosed with cancer.
Before her surgery, Jiuer invited the photographer to take some family photos, and later, when her condition deteriorated, asked her to record the time she spent with her children. The photographer used a large-format camera (which can offer exceptional detail in low light, as well as better control of perspective and depth of field) to capture the emotions and relationships within the family. Jiuer offered her own interpretation of each frame.
The project does not aim to address complicated issues of the disease, or its relation to society, but rather to document the emotional and spiritual journey of a young woman as she faces death. “In our daily lives, it is taboo for us to talk about death,” says the photographer. “We are afraid of death and unwilling to explore it. But the fact that we don’t talk about it doesn’t mean that it won’t happen, nor does it mean that we don’t have it on our minds; death is inevitable.”
Jiuer passed away in 2022, but her presence lives on in her family memories.
Are you a photographer and/or passionate about press freedom? Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on our annual contest and to hear about exhibitions near you.
