Vera Xia Jingyi 夏靖宜
Photography
La Petite Mort / 小小的死亡
Days of Judgement / 审判日
The Nocturnal / 夜行动物
Untitled Movies / 无题电影
In the Mood for Love / 花样年华
The Nocturnal
The Nocturnal 2020-2021
Digital, 35mm film, and infrared thermal camera, archival prints, light boxes, and flash light.
The shooting of these photos began in Berlin in March 2020, just as COVID-19 started to spread in the city. I began taking pictures at night out of necessity, as I, an Asian woman, felt hesitant to point my camera at anyone during the day. After fourteen days of what felt like 'medical observation,' I finally returned to my 'normal' life.
Once I stepped back into the outside world, I found a sense of refreshment in everything around me; the intense sun during those days even made me feel slightly dizzy. When I returned to my hometown in Hunan, it seemed as though the epidemic was far removed from the lives of the people there. Observing them live freely and what appeared to be a 'normal' life left me momentarily in disbelief.
At first, I enjoyed walking alone and taking photos around my home after dark. Eventually, I stumbled into a world of 'alcoholic humans' and met other 'nocturnal animals.' These photos serve as a diary of my nighttime life after the epidemic, reflecting my observations and thoughts as a "nocturnal animal" searching for connection. The darkness of the night provided me with a sense of safety, while my camera allowed me to capture the distorted illusions that floated through my mind when the flash illuminated the scene.