mother and daughter are photographed naked, facing ruined sites of china

in an eye-catching photography series, mother and daughter, ji jing and jia zhi, capture themselves standing naked in front of abandoned, ruined sites of china. the project intends to discuss the irresistible force of time with an unexpected, raw, yet beautiful approach. 

one of the workshop of abandoned changzhou research trial center of coal research institute (established in 1978)
all images courtesy of ji jing 

ji jing and jia zhi are obsessed with the ruins for not exactly the same reason. for the mother, the old world whose existence is proved by the ruins happens to be the one she experienced personally. meanwhile, the daughter has developed a strong curiosity about stories on what happened, what caused people to leave, what happened to these people after leaving. for her, the ruins do not only reflect the changes of an entire era, but also a collection of real, intimate stories of several individuals.

the photography collection explores the concepts of impermanence and transience of things in the world, under the force of time. in the images, the ruins are portrayed in a similar manner, as the products of time, proving the existence of a reality that passed. ‘the ruins contain the temptation of death, but after all, they have not completely turned into mud’ ji jing and jia zhi share. still, they seem lonely, lost, decadent, and dying. 

chimney of abandoned changzhou research trial center of coal research institute (established in 1978)

the mother and daughter hope to participate frankly and nakedly in the venue and talk to time. their completely naked state allows them to approach the issue, in a more private, personal, and honest manner. their nudity also serves as a symbol of challenge to traditional family structures and relationships, or even as a representation of a certain degree of resistance. after all, the artistic creation of the naked body seems to be becoming more and more difficult under the current domestic policy.

abandoned nautical instrument factory (established in 1978)

abandoned railroad tracks of qi shuya locomotive factory (established in 1941)

project info:

name: mother, daughter and ruins
artists: ji jing and jia zhi

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom