Departure Shunjie Bi

Grandma's home, Kunming, China, 29/05/2021

This photo was taken in my bedroom at my grandma’s home in Kunming, China, on the 29th May 2021.

At this moment I was still recovering from an injury.

Although I did not have a camera I attempted to take some filmlike moments using my mobile phone as I was prevented from doing a lot by the injury to my leg except lie in bed. The days became repetitive but allowed me to read what I could see from my bed in a filmic way. I found some moments of the room were so intriguing that I believed they deserved a ceremonial capture, rather than a phone. I decided to return to occupy the room with my father’s idle film camera.

I lived in this room, full of longing to be else where, before my departure to Shanghai. I was offered an internship with a dream office and was looking forward to beginning a new life with new friends in a fancy city. However, the injury prevented me from starting the internship. Instead, I was taken to the hospital.

The operation went well, but the doctor sternly told me I should not play basketball again. I don’t think he knew how much the sport featured in my life. The six months of recovery meant I was forced to give up my internship. At home I carried a gypsum case on my leg and swing myself about on crutches.

In the photo the crutches lean against a wall. On the right the wall is covered in marks and traces, records of my younger sister's artistic desires. The marks remain after many years, but only now, held in view for so long, can I recall them.