ENTRY DESCRIPTION
*This photo is from series "Traces of Civilization"

As a photographer who has traveled a lot in China, I took photos of historical sites frequently. From the first time I got in touch with them, I was strongly attracted because of a sense of Deja-vu.

I was fascinated by the traces that age had left on those ancient objects. The traces left by nature forces and human activities have made ancient relics capable to bear much more information now than at their birth. Such attribute made them like monuments in spite of what their original functions were, and they carry history of human consciousness and civilization to the present time. I consider ancient relics visible history and vehicle of time.

To meet my feelings about monumentality of those entities, I started to take photos of them by light painting at night in 2014. In the process of trying, dusk came into my attention. Only in this transient day-into-night time which was about 15 minutes, brightness of sky and earth could be properly recorded into the atmosphere of eternity, which made the world on the film appears mysterious and unfathomable. At this peculiar time, foreground items could also be refined to pure existences of artifacts rather than accomplishments rousing emotional melancholy or pride.

I touched those ancient relics with light, made them emerge from dimness. That's their seemingly enduring but also ephemeral existence in eternity.

AUTHOR
Zhao Gang is a professional photographer who started to practice photography since he was a senior student, and served publications as a documentary photographer for over 16 years, which made him a domestically famous expert; In 2012, he followed his deepening passion of photography and started artistic endeavor. Meanwhile, he became a teacher who had instructed over 500 students by the end of 2016.

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