Someone to Have You marie

cheng (she/her)

“Someone to Have You” explores the paradox of self-ownership in transitory relationships–the precarious balance between the owned and the owning.

As the female figure clings to her partner, his silhouette simultaneously carves into her. His crimson contours could almost burn her translucent, living flesh. Turned away from each other, the figures may only communicate through physical touch. Studying their disconnected yet intimate embrace, we question the nature of their relationship: Is it desperate? Begrudging? Contemplative? A bit of everything all at once?

Women in Shangri-La selling Matsutake to a dealer (the man sitting by the table), while another woman holding the phone is live-streaming and reselling the mushrooms online.

I felt all of these emotions while navigating romantic relationships, from adolescent love to university hookup culture. Especially in the modern sex-positive era, being young, hot, and empowered is analogous with the detachment of anonymous, impersonal, and fleeting relationships. This phenomenon births a cruel irony: to consume others is to consume oneself.

The image above is a poignant illustration of the interconnectedness of consumption and production on a larger scale. As one of the tourists in Shangri-la, I was brought to the mushroom market by the tour guide for the amazing Matsutake the place produces.

When I was communicating with the mushroom pickers in the picture, I found that their ability to speak Mandarin was very limited and they were generally unsatisfied by the price given by the dealer. Due to these language barriers, these women are often exploited by dealers and outside tourists. Despite their important roles as producers, their labor and culture, along with their image, are consumed by both Western audiences and Han-ethnic tourists.

I hope these images can invite us to critically engage with food and products we consume on a daily basis, and reflect on how relationships between land, people, technology, and capitalism shape our production and consumption practices.