Photo album (Selected works of Jef Li)

Author: Jee Me
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-02-01
Features: Before Jee Me's "Photobook" was published, the images had already been wildly circulated on the internet by unknown netizens. The online "Photobook" was taken with a relatively poor camera—let's throw it into the computer resource recycling bin. "Photobook" invites you to read it slowly, using your own, memory-laden language. Do you remember the photos from your childhood? Through these photos, can you recall the stories of your childhood? The concept of "Photobook" draws from fragments of life's memories. The author, through a series of "virtual photographs," creates a unique style of childhood nostalgia. The protagonist in the photos is a 10-year-old boy whose mental age exceeds that of his peers. Even at a young age, he already understands the passage of time and hides in lonely corners, grieving the death of a bird. In each photo, the author captures not only the "fun of the moments before and after the snapshot" but also the other stories behind the photos. He tries to tell us that there is always a story behind every photo, and sometimes it is a completely different story from what is shown on the surface. In "Photobook," the even-numbered pages are all filled with photographs, while the odd-numbered pages are different. The stories on the odd-numbered pages might take place after the shutter falls, in corners that the lens cannot reach, or even in the hearts of the characters—the inner landscapes that cannot be captured by the film. The frames in the book do not feature nostalgic rural scenes but instead a series of solitary urban silhouettes. Joyful images paired with sorrowful text unintentionally reveal a weariness that should not have appeared in childhood.