YIZHUO DU

See, Sea

I was born in Shijiazhuang, an inland city that relies on rail links. In most of my growing up memory, the element of "ocean" rarely appeared since it only meant exhausted travel, unbearable seasickness, and unaccustomed seafood to me. The ocean eventually became a symbol of "remote" and "exotic" in my consciousness which not only meant the strangeness in distance, but even the sense of curiosity with fear and a sense of alienation with vigilance. In the winter of 2020, when I was planning a road photography trip, I decided to challenge the theme of "sea", trying to find a symbolic or conceptual reflection of the concept of the sea in my self-identification.


From the winter of 2020 to the summer of 2021, I took several road photography on the coastline in the north of China, the islands in the east, and the delta in the south. Driving along the coastline, I photographed any objects, scenes or characters that could satisfy my fantasy of the ocean. The feeling of strangeness and alienation given by the sea was finally transformed into my visual choice of framing and distance. As the journey continued, the ocean had a more abstract effect on me — I began to feel more of my loneliness when I was chasing this grand concept. This kind of lonely emotion gradually dominates my creation. I try to record the scenery of the coast while integrating my inner emotions into the narrative of photography. This is the core of my ultimate hope which is to explore the concept and emotional connection between nature and identity.

我出生在石家庄，一个依赖铁路的内陆城市。在我成长的大部分记忆中，"大海 "这个元素很少出现，因为它对我来说只意味着疲惫的旅途、难以忍受的晕船和吃不惯的海鲜。在我的意识中，海洋最终成为了 "遥远 "和 "异域 "的象征，不仅意味着距离上的陌生，更意味着带着恐惧的好奇感和带着警惕的疏离感。2020 年冬，在计划一次公路摄影旅行时，我决定挑战 " 海 "这一主题，试图找到 " 海 "这一概念在我的意识里的象征物或某种反射。




从 2020 年冬天到 2021 年夏天，我在中国北部的海岸线、东部的岛屿和南部的三角洲进行了多次公路摄影。我沿着海岸线行驶，拍摄任何能够满足我对海洋幻想的物体、场景或人物。大海给人的陌生感和疏离感最终实体化为我在拍照时的对景别和距离的视觉选择。随着旅程的继续，海洋对我产生了更加抽象的影响 —— 在追逐这个宏大概念的过程中，我开始更多地感受到自己的孤独。这种孤独的情绪逐渐主导了我的创作。我试图在记录海岸风光的同时，将内心的情感嵌入摄影叙事中，这也是我最终希望探索的核心——自然与身份在概念和情感上的联结。