Blank Lands

“Since 1934, I have documented most of what I’ve seen to the west of China with my camera. Times have changed. Therefore, what’s been documented may have already become a relic of history”.

Is it as Zhuang suggested?

His diary, written during his first trip in 1934, comes to life once again, creating an imaginary bridge to the past, through remote areas of China and the contrasts of modernity, to discover the rich mosaic of cultures and minorities who still live there today, and finally ends between the steep mountains of Sichuan, to meet a woman photographed by Zhuang almost 80 years before.

But this documentary not only focuses on the narration of the life of a turn of the century photographer, but it is also a journey into a space where fragments of memory and new visions are intertwined, reinstating the power and timeless quality of Zhuang Xueben’s photography.