Born in Beijing in 1997, Xiaoyue Pu now lives in Wisconsin. There, during quarantine, she started working on Floating. “During my daily bike ride routine along lakes in Madison, I was so intrigued by observing people from their backs. Though knowing nothing about those individuals, their backgrounds or personalities, it felt that their backs truly revealed something valid and honest about themselves”, she tells us. A strange and fascinating physical study. In a contrasted black and white – almost theatrical – the photographer captured these silhouettes unconsciously communicating strong emotions. “Color is like facial expression: extremely straightforward, very concrete, too powerful…This was the last thing I wanted for this project”, she says. Surreal and strangely poignant, Floating questions the notions of abstraction and emotion. Decrypting these strangers’ positions, one must wonder: what is our relation to our environment? And nature? How do we create connexion with others? And what role do we play, in this senseless world?
© Xiaoyue Pu
