Leave Blank
When I arrived in Shanghai in 2011, it felt like I had missed the city’s most significant moments—post-boom, post-Olympics, post-Expo. There was a quiet longing that I had come too late, that the “real” Shanghai had already disappeared. The city seemed to wear a layer of nostalgia, as if it mourned its own past, though remnants of it still lingered if you looked closely enough.
The city’s relentless drive toward prosperity came at a cost. Old neighborhoods vanished, replaced by shiny towers, and the city’s history became a selective memory, as though it only remembered what it chose to. Shanghai, once again a global metropolis, had become a magnet for people across the country, making the Shanghainese a minority in their own city.
Preservation seemed an afterthought. What was lost was recorded only in fragments, a few private efforts holding onto what might otherwise be forgotten. In a city where official histories can be rewritten, what vanishes is often left unspoken. I see Shanghai as a city with selective memory, like someone eager to forget the painful moments of its past. But in these forgotten places, there’s an emptiness—a quiet that speaks of things better left undisturbed.
This space intentionally left blank
Walking through Shanghai’s streets now, I’m caught between feelings of melancholy and quiet hope. The emptiness in these spaces is undeniable, yet it holds a kind of promise. The city’s past lingers, but there’s room for the future to unfold.
In Chinese painting, the concept of “留白” or “leaving blank” refers to the necessary empty spaces that invite the viewer to imagine what could be. These walls, once filled with history, now feel like a blank canvas waiting for something new.
Photography offers the same opportunity. It captures a moment, a space, yet leaves room for interpretation. By framing these empty streets, I want to create a platform for others to explore the possibilities of what Shanghai can still become. It’s a tool to define reality, but also to dream beyond it. Through these images, I hope we can imagine a brighter, more hopeful future together, filling the city’s gaps with new possibilities, where what has been left blank can become something greater.
