Huang Qingjun

Family Stuff

Huang Qingjun (CN)

Following his belief that everybody has their own captivating story to tell, the photographer Huang Quingjun decided to photograph a group of interestingly looking people in 2019. This particular project was a sub-branch of Huang Qingjun’s main project Family Stuff for which the artist spent 16 years photographing a total of 102 families.

In his Family Stuff project, Huang Qingjun asked families to gather all their earthly possessions and display them on their yards in front of their homes. Once all of their belongings were neatly laid down on the grass, the artist began to photograph the family members in the midst of all their family stuff. These people show Huang a great amount of trust by displaying their family belongings in front of his camera. Huang’s approach was to capture a natural smile and expression on people’s faces. The result was a series of portraits displaying his hosts surrounded by their family belongings in which the artists intended to not only express their emotions but at the same time to depict their living status.

“I believe every personal belonging must have a special connection to the owner”

© Huang Qingjun, Family Stuff 5, 2019

“I believe every personal belonging must have a special connection to the owner” , Huang noted. According to the artist, the family stuff that is clearly documented in his images is penetrating viewers’ gaze. He believes that without it, the audience would have completely ignored some of the material content displayed in his pictures or think very little about it. His aim was to use these photographic images to interfere with our consciousness. Every part of the project is a testament to the faith and condition of life, an evidence of those that have either adapted or remained unchanged during the modernization process. Family Stuff finds the logic of our existence through visual enlightenment, confirming the particular presence of China under the grand global change.

Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Cultural Centre Stoa, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland.

© Huang Qingjun, Family Stuff 2, 2019

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Huang Qingjun (b. 1971) is a professional photographer and contemporary artist from China who has been creating photographic art for 26 years. In 1998 December, the artist joined the China Photographers Association and currently lives and works in Beijing. Huang Qingjun’s most known projects are Steam Locomotive (1992 to 2002) and Family Stuff (2003to present). Online Shopping Family Stuff and Homeless People’s Family Stuff are two special series of works that originated from the project Family Stuff. Huang’s works have won awards such as 2015 China International Press Photo Contest, 2015 London International Creation Competition, 2016 MIFA Moscow International Foto Awards and many more. Various international media, such as the New York Times, Bloomberg, and Wired, have also covered these works. BBC interviewed Huang and his works three times. His works have also appeared in magazines and albums such as Architecture Boston, Business Insider, GEO, Chinese National Geography, Discovery Cultural Geographic Monthly, Guardian Weekend, China Daily, Chinese Photography Magazine, Grazia France, Dutch Weekly Magazine, Vrij Nederland, Dutch Financial Daily, Family Photography etc. Some of his selected works appeared in textbooks published by Oxford University Press and National Geographic Learning, a division of an educational company called Cengage Learning.

© Huang Qingjun, Family Stuff 4, 2019