Making statues for over-60-year-olds in Shengjing Village

In Shengjingcun, in China’s Hubei province, more than half of its 639 residents work in other metropolises, while most of its elderly stay in the village. In traditional, rural China, a portrait is hung in the home after the death of an elderly person, as a remembrance. However, in Shengjingcun, most of the elderly population did not have any portrait of themselves.

Photographer Weishan Tan offered to take portraits of the Shengjingcun’s residents over the age of sixty, free of charge, which the artist then printed out and framed for the villagers. When we look at the portrait of these people, we are touched by their faces and the multitude of stories they convey.

Tan’s series is mounted in R Space’s outdoor window display area.