On May 10, 1869, “−·· −−− −· ·” (DONE) was telegraphed across the nation to signal the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. That moment was immortalized in Andrew J. Russell’s photograph East and West Shaking Hands at Laying Last Rail. Yet despite constituting nearly 90% of the workforce in the Sierra Nevada, Chinese laborers are effectively absent from this definitive image. Stanford researchers have identified only two: one turned away from the camera, the other obscured by a raised hat.
In response, I insert my own body into these landscapes through blurred self-portraits. I return to sites burdened by histories of erasure: the Transcontinental lines, the ruins of Chinatowns and mines, and borderlands. By adopting the visual language of the ghost, I insist that the land remains haunted by those who built it.
“−·· −−− −· ·”(DONE,已完工)是1869年美国第一条横贯大陆铁路正式竣工时发出的电报。安德鲁·J.拉塞尔(Andrew J. Russell)拍摄的《在铺设最后铁轨处东西方握手》长期以来被视为这一历史时刻的标志性摄影作品。然而,尽管在穿越内华达山脉的铁路建设中,华工人数最多,占比高达90%,他们却在这张官方合影中几乎完全缺席。斯坦福大学的最新研究指出,画面中确有两位华工:一位背朝镜头,身影模糊;另一位则被前景中一位高举帽子的男子所遮挡。
在这一摄影项目中,我在美国第一与第二条横贯大陆铁路、废弃的中国城遗址、以及国境线拍摄模糊的自己。这些影像既是对被遗忘者的代言,也是对历史抹除的反抗。