“In my eyes, Suzhou River is a park with flowing water, where people of all kinds rest, smoke, and stay in a daze. They sat on benches or leaned against the stands on the bank, all staring at the flowing river. I don’t want to disturb them, neither start a chat. I recorded everything quietly when passing by.

I went back and forth twice a week to the river bank during that three months, but still couldn’t figure out a name that matched the theme of the photos I took. Later, I came across a collection of poems named They Had to Walk Back Along the River Bank, written by Zhu Wen, a film director. The people he portrayed in the movies and in his writings wandered in this world, living a rough life, waiting for the arrangement of fate. When I put my camera away, I wondered if the neon night on the other side of the river could hear the whispers of these people.”

Meiwen, photographer based in Shanghai. The core of his current stage of creation focuses on the link between people and objects. He is accustomed to extending his subjects from objects to warmer objective humanistic objects. His records of people prefer non-mainstream groups with strong stories, and his records of things are also a continuation of people. -Publisher