Seamless
Seamless addresses issues of truth and fiction in photography as they conflate with consumer fantasy. Couples in contemporary China spend large sums to be photographically transported to locations of their romantic fantasies in full-day shoots that occur months before their actual wedding day. Rather than capturing lived moments from the wedding, the wedding photo shoot has become a separate, but equally important, event. Most of the sets depict “exotic” Western locales or scenes of travel and recreation. The set themes are informed by the globally distributed visual language of western advertising that speaks to ideas of freedom and luxury. The photographs highlight the artifice of the studio by revealing the space and equipment beyond the backdrop. The overhead lights strip the glamor from the scenes to reveal the underlying reality.