about the work:
The Nujiang River spans the Yunnan-Tibetan cultural belt of China and is the westernmost branch of the tribal groups of the Di-qiang system. The ethnic minorities are photographed from the perspective of anthropological kinship. The experiences and historical changes of the Derung and Nu ethnic minorities in Nujiang are also studied.
Because of its remote location, underdeveloped economy and isolated cultural environment, Nujiang's traditional ethnic culture is precious, but it also faces the danger of losing. In recent years, young ethnic minorities have migrated to other places for work. The loss of population and the impact of modern cultures mean the deepening loss of traditional culture, and the ethnic culture of Nujiang is facing an unprecedentedly strong impact. The image form is the oldest cultural code of an ethnic group, using the unique photographic techniques of large-format cameras, detailed expression and unique visual art of black and white images to express the spiritual state of the Chinese nation and the unique aesthetics of minority portraits. Through the platinum print, the artistic presentation of the image, you can trace or biological preservation of the cultural gene of the ethnicity from the mechanical camera shift axis so that the image has different degrees of depth of field from top to bottom as if the image is older and more real than the text.
The work uses 4X5 large-format film shooting and platinum printing technology to observe and compare brothers and sisters of different ethnic groups. "Siblings in the Salween "has been shooting for six years since 2019, shooting and visiting more than 100 villages(groups), and currently shooting more than 200 pairs of ethnic compatriots.
Siblings in the Salween have the same skin and bones. Skin is the tattooing, which is reincarnating from the ‘'exterior soul'’ of ancestors. They ''own one another'', and the body's boundaries were not the final delineation of the air around them but the association of parts of the human body that might be seen as "the other." The image penetrates the texture of the paper, and the viewer is expected to gaze at the portrait itself, just as the photographer does through ground glass, and feel that the kinship of the blood and the image will remain forever, and the story will be told.
The faces of the siblings seem to drift between similarity and dissimilarity; They are separated from each other in their transpersonal existence. Their lives can be achieved from the same land, Salween(Nu River in China). The soil of land bore them and nourished them. They shared memories, working together， mutual aid, sharing the fortunes of migration and residence and understand what it means to participate in each other's lives.J. Prytz Johansen writes: "Kinship is more than what to us is community and solidarity. The common will which conditions the solidarity is rooted in something deeper, an inner solidarity of souls".
Basic introduction about Miss. Pan Jiaqi, she was originated and born in Foshan in 1990. During her young age, she picked up the skill of calligraphy at the age of four and started to learn painting at six. After she finished her Master's courses in China, she furthered her studies with PhD in Media Management in Malaysia. She ever worked as a film director for CCTV (Channel 9), a documentary director, a film shooting photograph editor and last but not least for large-format photography at the age of 30. Her current role and passion is to venture into photography and documentary as a film director. She is very committed and enthusiastic to exploring more into finding the required visual expression elements in ordinary nature, capturing as rich and delicate decisive moments as possible in traditional ways yet with new technologies.
In 2011, documentary film "Lei Drama" won the national top 30 of the first "Youth China" documentary competition.
In 2020, the short film "The Song of Ice - Winter Catch" won the best story aerial shooting of the sixth International Drone Photography Contest.
In 2021, the short film "Tashi's Road" was shortlisted for the seventh International Drone Photography Contest.
In 2021, the large-format photography work "Siblings in the Salween" was exhibited in the "Lift your Cover - Large-format in Guangdong" film exhibition.
In 2021, the large-format photography work "Siblings in the Salween" was exhibited in the first "Shafei Photography Week" photography art exhibition.
In 2024, the large-format photography work "Siblings in the Salween" was selected for the Beijing International Photography Week 2024 "Original Point" - the first large-format photography exhibition of the Art Photography Society of China.