Yang Yi – Uprooted

©Yang Yi

Yang Yi’s project Uprooted is a personal reflection on the Chinese government’s project of the building of the Three Gorges Dam. The dam is the largest hydroelectric power station in the world, and with the building of the structure, the cities, towns and villages that are along the 600-kilometer reservoir will be submerged underwater and will have displaced more than 1.2 million people.

Yang Yi returned to photograph his hometown, which had not yet been completely leveled, capturing rubble, deserted streets and vacated buildings. His series, through collage style photography, explores what his town would look like once submerged, depicting the city being buried alive, allowing a window of shimmering light, watching the ghosted-townspeople go about their daily routine wearing masks and snorkels living underwater. The scenes are eerie, sad and suffocating, resembling probably just a few of the same feelings of the relocated people.

— by Aislinn Leggett on July 28, 2009. Filed under Colour

About Aislinn

Aislinn Leggett is a Montreal-based photographer. You can learn more about her work on her website and on her personal blog. You can also follow her Twitter @aislinnleggett and on Facebook.