Dusting off a millennia-old book of poems, artist photographer Taca Sui looked to the Book of Odes (the oldest surviving collection of Chinese poetry, compiled by Confucius) for his hazy, silver gelatin prints that deliver the texts in a contemporary landscape. A landscape filled with dreamy, flat-grey glimpses.
“My search for the broad mountains, flowing rivers, ruined walls and ancient paths of the Book of Odes felt much like a mysterious engagement with an absent partner,” Sui recalls.
“During the shoot, it was almost as if my emotions and artistic direction were under the influence of some unknown force.”
It’s a rare and precious thing to capture a sense of spirituality in the process of image-making, but we think Sui’s work has it in abundance.