Ivy Chen

This project starts from my observation on the distinction between contemporaryChinese citizens and those outdated places operated by the first-generationChinese immigrants in Sydney. The decoration styles of those environments are mostly the same as those in China during the 80s and 90s, which leads to a disconnection from people in the trendy urban life. In this project, I gathered a group of Chinese youth around me and posing them in those environments with fashionable outfits. Since they are not professional models, I developed a sense of dark humorous from their seemly awkward postures along the shooting process. This uncomfortable body expression surprisingly and effectively transfers my idea about the alienation of urban people from old-fashioned shops, including markets, karaoke, temples, restaurants etc. 

I attempt to question on why those places didn’t update along the time regarding the historical background of first-generation immigrants in Australia, and how their economic situation varies to current Chinese international students. In order to reinforce the sense of disconnection, flashlight was used to highlight the model from the background. Additionally, passengers involved in some of the photographs enhanced the narration and provides contexts for those scenes.