sad

Went to 798 art district today and wandered around an exhibition, called This Face, by Xu Yong and Zi U. There was lots of text at the start, but typical me went straight to the photos, a long line of close-ups of a lady's face stretching all the way around the room. Obviously the same lady, the pictures showed her with and without make-up and in various states of disarray, apparently taken on one day. Clever, I thought, and eye-catching.

It was only at the end that I bothered to read the text that accompanied the photos, written by the lady herself- her story of the same day. It turns out that she is a prostitute in Beijing, and her story recounts- in uncomfortable detail- her day's encounters with clients. It might have shocked many people but I don't think that was the point- it was an honest, real account of this woman's life: her unhappiness, her disgust with her clients, and her conviction that this is all she is good for, that it is her only way to make money, and that the money will make her happy.

Fascinating, uncomfortable, but so sad.