Photos of Their Youth

By+staff+reporter+LU+RUCAI

IN todays China， there is a group of people born in the 1980s and 1990s who have left their hometowns to seek fortunes in big cities； they are single； they spend everything they earn on day-to-day living expenses， so they cant afford to buy an apartment or a car. They long for a better life， but are struggling and wandering between dream and reality. In fact， they have no idea what their future has in store. But despite feeling lost， they persist in pursuing the dreams they had in the very beginning. They persist even if their dreams abandon them， and until such persistence becomes their life.” So remarked photographer Tian He as he described the theme of his photo series Photos of Their Youth.

But why did he choose this theme？ Tian He explained that it all started from his own despondency with life. He wanted to fi nd out more about the lives of his peers. Eventually， he discovered， “We are unsatisfied with reality because we have our dreams and an overwhelming optimism means that we keep fighting and pursuing our dreams with a determined mind.”

Chasing Dreams in Big Cities

Tian He， who was born in 1985， has lived in Beijing for six years， a migrant like many of his peers. In early 2011， he quit his job at a TV station and went to study photography at Beijing Film Academy. In the same year， his series of pictures entitled The People of Northwest China was exhibited at the China Pingyao International Photography Festival. Now， Tian is a photographer dedicated to practicing his art to benefi t the public， not for fi nancial gain. His many photos have been published on a number of reputable Chinese media platforms.

“In order to stay afloat in big cities， sometimes we have to do a job that we dont really like； we hide our true selves to keep our dignity and we endure the loneliness.” His words are poetic， but full of melancholy. Yet he persists in pursuing his dream in Beijing.

Most of the young people captured through his lens are like him. They all live a big city dream.

Tian Song from Baoding City of Hebei Province was among one of the fi rst groups of people that Tian He chose for his photo series. At that time， Tian Song was still looking for a job， having arrived in Beijing two months earlier. Tian Song graduated from college， having majored in environmental art design， in 2011 and one year later was encouraged by relatives and friends to come to Beijing. Tian Hes photograph of Tian Song sees the subject positioned in front of a wall decorated with Beijing Opera masks. He wanted to portray Tian Song as a representative of young people who came to Beijing alone to pursue their dreams， looking forward to his new life in a big city.

Unlike Tian Song， Yu Qing， another subject of the photo series， was not worried about finding a job. He simply wanted to follow his heart. Yu is from Jingdezhen of Jiangxi Province， Chinas porcelain capital. He had a stable job at the local weather bureau， but was getting sick of the tedium of “a cup of tea and a newspaper” every day. He quit his seemingly stable job and went to Beijing alone. At first， he worked for a media company in a combined role as photographer， director and editor. “I think the only thing not in my job description was shooting myself with my camera！” Yu joked. Tian Hes impression of Yu Qing was that he seemed to lead a full and busy life， but still looked lost.“Life always forces you to compromise on something that you shouldnt really care that much about， like food and rent. And other more meaningful things have to make way for those necessities，” Yus words were incisive and realistic for Tian He. Under the pressure of subsistence， sometimes the young generation must learn to give in.

“Although they have plenty of free time， they cant go out anywhere in Beijing because if they do， they spend money，” Tian said. That is common thinking among the dream chasers in Tian Hes pictures. They only work and earn money. Their leisure time is spent watching TV or playing video games in rented accommodation.

“In spite of that， only one or two people among the young people I photographed left Beijing， most of them are still here， including me，” said Tian He. He admitted that almost every young person who comes to settle in a big city like Beijing or Shanghai is torn between two choices if the move does not live up to their expectations： stay in the big city or return home. Most of them stay. Tian He wanted to record the faces and inner worlds of these young people who keep fi ghting for their dreams.

Never Stop Exploring

“My overall understanding of the generation born in the 1980s is that they grew up with dreams shaped by movies and TV shows. They value their own thoughts and expect much from the world. However， because of factors such as family background， economic status and personal capability， most of them are unsatisfied with their situations after entering the real world. They feel lost between the ideal and reality， and complain a lot. The problem for them now is that they have a series of practical problems to face – marriage， having a child， buying an apartment and a car –when they are still unable to fulfi ll their own dreams，” said Tian He. Moreover， the rising generation born in the 1990s is beginning to gain a foothold in society. This aggravates the pressure on the post-1980s generation and makes them feel their dreams are slipping further and further out of reach.

Seeking out a suitable job and professional development are among the most common desires of the young people photographed by Tian He. Shen Meng from Shanghai is one such dreamer. In 2006， she went to Australia to study，under the fever of emigration， soon after taking the national university entrance examination. Shen wanted to study hospitality management but her father disagreed with her choice， believing that course of study was better suited to young men. So， Shen settled for a major in accounting and finance instead. Later， due to changes in Australias immigration policy， Shen had to return to Shanghai， where she found a sales job at a fi nance company. When Tian He took her photo， Shen had been employed for two months. But， she had already begun to reconsider her career choice. “The weight of interpersonal relationships in domestic society is too much； it wears me out，” she said. In fact， rarely a day goes by when she doesnt think about her initial dream of studying hospitality management.

Zhou Changkai is another subject of Tian Hes photo series. Zhou was born in 1987 in Heze City of Shandong Province. He studied web page design at a private college in Beijing， but he lost interest in the course， dropped out and started work. Over the past three years， he has worked as a web page designer and even a vendor of counterfeit batteries. He also co-invested with friends to set up a cell phone battery factory in Shenzhen and then returned to Beijing to work for a former classmates company as the website manager. According to Tian He， Zhou dreamed of being a big shot in whatever business. However， accumulat- ing life experience has made him more realistic. Now， he just wants to earn money and gain more experience so he can eventually return to his hometown and open his own business there.

“I always think that people born in the 1980s are the first generation in Chinese history to be able to decide their destiny. They can choose the education they are going to receive and the schools they go to； they can choose jobs and spouses according to their liking，” said Tian He. However， most young Chinese people， whether they belong to the post-80s or the post-90s generation， dont have concrete career paths mapped out.“That reveals a huge hole in our education，” Tian He said.

In addition， as in Shens case， parents and families still greatly influence the lives of young people. In fact， such examples could be found everywhere among the 30 young subjects of Tian Hes project. “Family background exerts an obvious and even lifelong influence on children， and as the post-80s generation grow older， parents intervene more and more in issues such as marriage， having a child and where they settle down，” said Tian. “Dissatisfaction with life in an unfamiliar city coupled with strong intervention from parents makes these young people feel displaced between what they want and what they have，” Tian added.

No Boundary for Dreams

Among the characters in the Photos of Their Youth series are graduate interns， unlicensed taxi drivers， airbrush painters， owners of online stores， returnees that have just finished their overseas studies， students who are fighting for places at foreign universities and young people from Hong Kong on internships in Beijing. “I chose them as my subjects because they all had their own dreams，”Tian He said.

After photographing a young man from Hong Kong on a one-month internship in Beijing， Tian He learned more about the similarities and differences between young people in Chinas mainland and Hong Kong. The young interns from Hong Kong liked the inclusive and friendly atmosphere in Beijing， which didnt make them feel like outsiders. They also said they appreciated the introverted nature of their peers in the mainland. However， before coming they had little understanding of modern Beijing. They even had the impression that trains in the mainland were still like the old， green ones they saw in movies. So when they first boarded a Beijing-Tianjin inter-city express train， they were surprised at its high speed.

Lu Yuxin， who was born in 1991， is a student in marketing and economics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She told Tian He that she felt grateful for the chance to travel to Beijing. “Before， I was always in a passive position， listening to my parents choices，” she said. On this point， it seems that all Chinese families share this characteristic.

It was not always easy for Tian He to get what he wanted for his photography project. At first， he invited friends as samples for his program. As his mission attracted more and more attention， some netizens volunteered to be Tians models. “However， there were some people who just wanted to share their stories and make friends with me but not appear in the photos，” said Tian.“Therefore， I often went to meetings with potential subjects but came away empty-handed.”

Tian He listed himself as the 23rd subject of Photos of Their Youth. In the picture， he sits in the center of a mess of luggage， an old television and a large box filled with various objects. These are the belongings Tian has accumulated over the years since coming to Beijing. Reflecting on his days in the capital， Tian said he felt he had spent much time dragging his possessions from one place to another. In the next picture， we see an empty room with only a bed， a table and a dusty floor， the scene after his departure.

“Photos of Their Youth exposes not only the lives of others， but also my own life. The ideal is seemingly inaccessible while reality is often boring. But in this materialistic era， we have to be pragmatic – find a stable job and save money，”Tian said. “As time goes by， we may see our wages rise， yet we feel less happy. Why？” The sad fact is that dreams have been shattered. “Its the same for me，”said Tian， “I no longer have a concrete dream； I just want to finish Photos of Their Youth no matter how long it takes， because that is something I am happy doing.”