The Burning Prairie — Yan Jiacheng

燃烧的原野（2020）
The Burning Prairie

「燃烧的原野」这个名字取自我喜欢的小说家胡安·鲁尔福的同名小说。大学毕业以后，我返回故乡的季节局限于春节期间，因此拍摄了大量的冬天的家乡的照片，当然很多都是烧秸秆的照片。前几年我外公患上肺癌，我在某个夏末回家乡去探望他，于是看到家乡的另一面，这些场景和冬天是如此不同，和记忆中的故乡也是如此不同，于是我又拍摄了此地的照片。后来我想这些荒凉萧瑟，冬天燃烧着的土地，在春夏会竟然焕发出此等的生命力，这让我惊讶。人类从开始农耕开始，这些土地上的四季循环似乎就没有改变过，土地就这样一直供养着人类。
一年后我的外公去世了，再回到故乡的时候，我发现人也是在这片土地上燃烧又重新生长。
The name "Burning Prairie" for my work is inspired by a novel of the same name by my favorite author, Juan Rulfo. After graduating from college, I only returned to my hometown during the Spring Festival, leading me to capture many winter scenes there, notably of burning straw. A few years ago, when my grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer, I returned home at the end of a summer and discovered a different aspect of my hometown. These scenes, so unlike those of winter and my memories, compelled me to photograph them too. I was struck by the stark contrast: the barren, desolate land, which lay burning in the winter, burst forth with life in spring and summer. This revelation mirrored the unchanging cycle of the land, which has nourished humanity since the dawn of agriculture.
A year after my grandfather's passing, when I returned home again, I realized that humans, too, are like this land—burning and regrowing in a continuous cycle of life and rejuvenation.