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Would you still love me if I...?
In Would you still love me if I…? Nadine Zhan explores the relationship dynamics within a family shaped by assimilation and diaspora. Frustration and emotional immaturity that resulted from being a child of immigrants became points of recognition of the parallels between her own life and that of her parents. As she came of age and began to look inwards at her own identities, she was struck by a curiosity and longing to understand her own family that was rich in a rather fresh history. Drawing upon her fantasies, various media, upbringing in Brooklyn, and the disconnection she felt with her family in language barriers and cultural differences, Zhan is pushed to use photography as a tool for understanding and care.
After the pandemic, travel costs made it extremely difficult to visit family in Lianjiang, Fuzhou. After 5 years they were finally able to return but this time with her father– who hasn’t returned since he came to America at the age of 17. It was a pivotal moment that compelled her to reflect on their past. The camera provided an entry point for intimacy and familiarity with a home that felt distant. Zhan captures figures and shapes of what she feels most accurately encapsulates the intimate nature of being in a place you can call home. Photographs become conduits for preservation, allowing her to hold onto these distant memories. Through assemblages of intimate portraiture and observational studies, Zhan imagines how you can only be seen if you allow yourself to be vulnerable.
After the pandemic, travel costs made it extremely difficult to visit family in Lianjiang, Fuzhou. After 5 years they were finally able to return but this time with her father– who hasn’t returned since he came to America at the age of 17. It was a pivotal moment that compelled her to reflect on their past. The camera provided an entry point for intimacy and familiarity with a home that felt distant. Zhan captures figures and shapes of what she feels most accurately encapsulates the intimate nature of being in a place you can call home. Photographs become conduits for preservation, allowing her to hold onto these distant memories. Through assemblages of intimate portraiture and observational studies, Zhan imagines how you can only be seen if you allow yourself to be vulnerable.