Description
Si Bei was completed in 2024, marking the culmination of a project spanning 14 years. Since Lahem first encountered a camera in 2007, he begen photographing Sibei – his birthplace and a typical mountain village in central China.
The villagers of this village are descendants of the Hakka people, whose ancestors migrated south centuries ago. Thus, the area is one of the Hakka settlements. Moreover, the village holds historical significance as a site where early 20th-century Chinese revolutionaries sought to realize their revolutionary ideals. It was once the seat of the Chinese Soviet Republic and served as the starting point of the Red Army’s Long March.
During the creation of this work, Lahem also pursued another line of inquiry—an introspection on his identity that spanned over a decade.
This exploration resulted in several works, including Wander-lost (2013), Walking 1000 Kilometers Back to Hometown (2016), and Luo Fuping/Reborn (2019).
In Sibei, Lahem moves beyond the binary opposition between himself and his family or land. Instead, he shifts his focus to the land where Sibei village is located and the people living there. His attention centers on shared human destinies, the permanence of the land, the mystery of space, and the struggles, resilience, and unyielding spirit of the people inhabiting this land as they face time and historical tides.
