EMILY CARR AWARD WINNER: HUA JIN

Phoebe Hua Jin's project, My Big Family, is not only a document of her own extended family, but a way of speaking about changes in the China's family structure that have occurred since the introduction of the One-Child Policy in 1978. Almost always vignetted and suffused with soft light, the photographs are at once tender, personal, and powerful, paradoxically forming feelings of nostalgia for the present. As a series, the collection of private moments moves into a greater narrative about one of the most basic units of society: the family.

In Jin's own words, "China is undergoing its biggest economic and social transformation. At this changing moment to document and examine the phenomenon of the changing family structure fulfills my purpose of helping people to understand the effects of One-Child Policy on ordinary people's everyday lives who are usually overlooked. I hope it will become a testimony of the present for the future. I wish I could construct a memory not only for my own extended family, but also for all Chinese families or even for all the families in the world in the contemporary society. Meanwhile, in memory of my parents, the process of making this project helps me to trace their past and treasure the memories they left behind."

Jin is the 1st place Canon Photography Award winner.



My Big Family (series)
c-print
16" x 20"
My Big Family (series)
c-print
16" x 20"

My Big Family (series)
c-print
16" x 20"

Comments