The work of Guangzhou-based photographer Yan Jiacheng captures life on the fringes through documentary and conceptual methods
As night falls over the outskirts of Guangzhou, 31-year-old photographer Yan Jiacheng is taking one of his after-work strolls. Towering residential high-rises line one side of the street, their windows glowing warmly against the sky. On the other side, darkness extends out into the countryside, with the next village some distance away. This stark contrast between urban illumination and rural obscurity defines the setting for his ongoing series “Night in the Suburbs,” documenting urban-rural nightlife in a makeshift public space.
Yan is a documentarian straddling the lines between urban and rural life, and fringe spaces such as this one, not far from his apartment, are where he finds both inspiration and community among the people whose daily lives he captures through his lens.
“When I had just moved here, there was no street, only mud. But around April or May that year, they began constructing the street,” Yan recalls. “There were no cars here at first, so people started using this as a public space to hang out.”
Related Articles
