SanJiang Village on Screen: A Shift in Family Ties

In February 2015, the people of SanJiang Village were celebrating their last Chinese New Year Festival in ShaoXing, China. SanJiang Village is known as a ‘cancer village’, with a rich history dated back to the Ming Dynasty. Located in the middle of heavily polluting enterprises, the villagers had been struggling with severe environmental pollution for decades. Finally, after 10 years of discussion, the villagers received relocation compensation before the village wipes out completely this year. The displacement of village also brought about an inevitable change in familydom. The small, rural village which boasted of closed family ties within a united community has been replaced by the advent of digital technology and compelling environmental issues. This year, SanJiang Village will disappear and their family ties could only be maintained on screen. In this project, we see a shift in family ties of SanJiang Village through an experimental, yet documentary photographic manner. All photographs in this project are presented as factual, with only additions to highlight the changed notion of family.