Visual Inventory
by Malcolm Parker on August 9, 20123 comments
This photo of a family, its yurt* and possessions is from a photo project begun in 2005 by Huang Qingjun and Ma Hongjie. They travel around the country and photograph families outside their homes with all their possessions. Simple and lovely. The tone of the photos (the processed ones at the start, not the others at the end) reminds me of Alec Soth’s fantastic book, Sleeping by the Mississippi ** and I have a weakness for Becher-like typologies, so I hope this comes by the local gallery.
Check out more at China Smack, here.
*I chose this photo because I could write ‘yurt’, one of my favourite words.
**I just checked Amazon for the book and man, do photobooks appreciate quickly. Pre-order the upcoming Alec Soth and John Gossage now because it will be unreachable soon.
Originally posted August 28, 2011
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3 comments
Matthew Payne on August 30, 2011 at 9:14 am. #
You know, I’ve slept in yurts. I have no idea how they got all that stuff in one yurt. I see the dogs but where are their real wealth–sheep and horses?
Emma Kigar on August 30, 2011 at 9:46 am. #
A beautiful photo of a beautiful life.
For many years my home was 12′ x 14′. The easiest way to clean it was to take everything outside, which I did about once every couple of weeks. Only the massive wood cook stove remained indoors. After the work of hauling my possessions (bed, 2 chairs, treadle sewing machine, water jug, toolbox, books) outdoors, like an open air living room, it never seemed that I needed more.
Malcolm Parker on August 30, 2011 at 11:33 pm. #
I mean to go to Mongolia just to sleep in a yurt, but I’ll settle for one without the satellite TV. Seems like a treadle sewing machine is necessary for the simple life. What I want to know is if that is a wood burning stove, where the hell do they get the wood, not very lush around there.
If you want to reminisce about the cabin, Emma, check out Soth’s work. There’s a fantastic photo of a guy holding a model airplane outside his house that seems to be in the middle of a snowfield.