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We looked inside some of the posts by tingtingzhangtingtingzhang and here's what we found interesting.
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Last Seen Tumblr Blogs
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14 days photo
Some of the photos ended up mixed together because the contact sheet contains 36 images, and I had them combined at some point during the 14-day shooting period. Most of the time, I worked in series — one day following Kelly, one day following Polly, one day for my dad’s birthday, another for my daughter’s birthday, a day going to church with my mum, and another day with her and her friends. So basically, each person’s story was captured over the course of a day.
However, when I created the contact sheet, the images got a little mixed up together.
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Plan ---
Actually, when I first started planning this project, I realized that photographing unfamiliar people wouldn’t allow for real depth or emotional connection. Without knowing their personalities and preferences, it’s hard to capture those subtle, meaningful details in their daily lives. So I decided to focus on the people closest to me — my mother, my two good friends Kelly and Polly, myself, my family, my daughter, my husband, and our cat.
The project was divided into several parts: • Kelly runs a restaurant called Double Happy Restaurant in Albany, so I photographed her morning workouts, cooking in the kitchen, lunchtime at the restaurant, school drop-offs, after-school moments at home with her child, and her quiet, personal time in between. • Polly runs an art studio, so I took photos of her teaching, her everyday life with her child, moments at the studio, and scenes from her personal life. • Myself, including school drop-offs, my own studies, family portraits, and our family members. May was the perfect time because we celebrated my husband’s birthday and my daughter’s birthday, which became special moments to capture through photography. • My mother, whose life includes daily routines, church gatherings, morning prayers, evening prayers, and walks with friends — capturing the simple, grounded essence of her days.
The structure of this photobook will be framed around these perspectives. Through these images, I want to reflect who we are, what we do, how we live, our friends and family, our leisure activities, our food, the way we celebrate holidays, and most importantly — our little dreams in New Zealand.
The idea is to allow the viewer to see and feel our life through these genuine, everyday moments.
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Week 8 and week 9
contact sheet
During Week 8 and Week 9, I took a lot of photographs. My plan was to select a few key subjects — including my own family, with a series of family portraits, as well as some of my friends. Among them were Kelly, who runs a restaurant, and Polly, who runs an art education studio. I also captured some moments from our everyday life. This is just a part of the project, and there will be more updates in the coming weeks.
Actually, during the holiday break, I had already started working on some of this, loosely following the 14-day training schedule. However, it was difficult to stick to it every single day. I managed to complete certain sections, like Day 1–6, then Day 7–12, and eventually up to Day 14, but it was quite a challenge to fully maintain the routine for the entire 14 days.
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Alessandra Sanguinetti (born 1968) is an American photographer who grew up in Argentina and later became a member of Magnum Photos. Her work is renowned for its exploration of human emotions, family bonds, and the relationship between people and their environments, with a strong emphasis on narrative-driven imagery.
One of her most iconic projects is “The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of Their Dreams,” which reflects her deep commitment to long-term documentary photography. The series began in 1999, when Sanguinetti started documenting the lives of two rural Argentine girls, Guille and Belinda. She established a close personal relationship with the girls and immersed herself in their everyday lives.
Authentic and natural, with genuine emotions shining through. It gives people a warm, heartfelt feeling — and I hope I can achieve the same in my own work.”
Ref: https://www.xiaohongshu.com/discovery/item/6710c1190000000016023df0?app_platform=ios&app_version=8.86&share_from_user_hidden=true&xsec_source=app_share&type=normal&xsec_token=CB1o_pPORmtXnQHXAzj-d8qreZQzTJxTY--fKVB2FJpIw=&author_share=1&xhsshare=CopyLink&shareRedId=ODdDOTg9PEs2NzUyOTgwNjczOTdHSTk-&apptime=1749645021&share_id=3049865be8da4956bca7a804565f192f
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Photographer- Larry Sultan
( Pictures from Home)
“Pictures From Home” is a classic work from Larry Sultan’s series. This project blends contemporary photography, home videos, dialogues, and personal memorabilia to depict the emotional bond between Sultan and his parents. “Pictures From Home” is presented as a compelling, story-like collage that allows viewers to deeply and intimately experience the complex relationship between the photographer and his family. Through these intimate family images, Sultan evokes reflections on aging, wealth disparity, interpersonal relationships, and universal family values.
About the Photographer: Larry Sultan grew up in the San Fernando Valley, California, and his childhood memories became the inspiration for many of his works. His practice combines documentary photography and staged imagery, often portraying fragments of suburban life and scenes of everyday landscapes. Many of his projects — including later works focusing on San Francisco elites and immigrant laborers — compel viewers to contemplate how the concept of “home” exists both as a physical reality and as a dynamic, emotional, and culturally loaded space.
Ref : https://www.xiaohongshu.com/discovery/item/68231053000000000c039108?app_platform=ios&app_version=8.86&share_from_user_hidden=true&xsec_source=app_share&type=normal&xsec_token=CBKEX82cNghcBls3PZqj2x19HXeFKr1j9LtRlAPGWt0c8=&author_share=1&xhsshare=WeixinSession&shareRedId=ODdDOTg9PEs2NzUyOTgwNjczOTdHSTk-&apptime=1749603322&share_id=becc6a786da341b6ba82d426646f6c50
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What and who will you portray? What might you communicate visually through the concept of portrayal? What is your position on your subject matter? What is your voice? What is unique about your subject or your approach to it? What do you have unique access to? A group of people, a place, a situation…? Consider the important role the title takes in communicating your intention and how audiences might ‘read’ the book. What is your working title? What would you like readers to think and feel? What is the role of the text within the book? How does the text relate to the story the images tell? How do they work together? How many shoots do you require to gain adequate coverage and successfully tell the story? Do you need gear and support with your shoots? What is your plan? What software and workflow will you use to edit, process, collate and design your photobook PDF? What is your research plan? What other photobooks have you looked at? Are there decisions that have yet to be made? How will you resolve these?Also upload draft layouts of your photobook to your Tumblr visual diary.
Provide a constructive review of a series of images shot by a fellow class member and upload this to your Tumblr visual diary.
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I also came across this book at home, and it has a very distinct Chinese character to it. Hong Kong is quite a mixed city — because of its long colonial history, it carries many Western cultural traditions while still preserving elements of traditional Chinese culture. It’s a true cultural blend.
The entire book is designed with a black background, highlighted with red details, which gives it a strong sense of traditional Chinese aesthetics. I found it very impressive. I think in the future, when I create my own photobook projects, I’ll definitely take inspiration from this style and visual language.
Ref: FormAsia. Great Cities of the world Hong Kong Hong Kong: Format Limited 1987
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Final Summative photobook
Our Story— A Visual Narrative of Chinese Immigrants in New Zealand
This project, Our Story, stems from my personal identity and life experience. Having immigrated to New Zealand over twenty years ago, I have built my education, career, family, and second home here. This photobook is an attempt to document and share the everyday lives of Chinese immigrants through my own lens — presenting our culture, faith, food, family, and identity as they naturally unfold in our adopted homeland. I wanted this work to serve as a visual narrative, a story-like documentation rather than a staged representation.
The people featured in this project are all individuals closely connected to me — my mother, two close friends, and my immediate family. This choice was intentional. Photographing people with whom I share strong emotional bonds allowed me to enter their personal spaces naturally and capture moments of authentic living. I believe photography, especially in documentary work, must be grounded in trust and honesty. It is through this intimacy that deeper cultural meaning and human emotion can be revealed.
I deliberately avoided posed photography in this project. Using natural light and familiar environments, I quietly observed and captured candid moments: the clatter of a wok in a Chinese kitchen, children concentrating on their paintings in an art classroom, my mother’s serene moments of prayer, and our family’s casual, affectionate daily routines. These ordinary fragments together compose a layered and honest portrait of how our lives as Chinese immigrants adapt to and merge with New Zealand society.
Food, education, faith, and family emerged naturally as the core themes of this photobook. Through my friend’s Chinese restaurant, I documented how culinary culture acts as a bridge between the past and present. My other friend’s art school represents the creative spirit and cultural education of the new generation. My mother’s daily routines and religious practices capture how elder immigrants maintain their faith and traditions. The family chapter reveals the pulse of everyday Chinese family life: school drop-offs, birthday celebrations, supermarket trips, and home rituals. Together, these images silently narrate how Chinese identity finds space within New Zealand life.
Throughout this project, I came to understand the importance of the photographer’s role as a gentle observer rather than a director. The emotional closeness I shared with my subjects allowed for the creation of images that felt both sincere and meaningful. This reflection also made me realize the importance of engaging with an audience’s perspective. Prior to finalizing the photobook, I conducted informal discussions within the Chinese community and with local New Zealanders to gauge their understanding and curiosity about our lives. Their feedback guided my selection of themes and scenes to ensure the work remained both authentic and relatable.
This experience also reinforced my admiration for Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi’s philosophy of finding beauty in ordinary life. Kawauchi believes that simple, everyday moments, when observed and narrated with sensitivity, can hold profound emotional and cultural significance (Mullins, 2015). In my work, it was these subtle, unassuming moments — a mother’s smile, the sizzle of a wok, a child’s concentration — that collectively told a larger story about resilience, adaptation, and cultural continuity in immigrant lives.
Ultimately, Our Story is not just a personal project but a visual narrative for the wider Chinese community in New Zealand. It uses honest, unembellished photography to document how we live, adapt, preserve traditions, and create new ones. Through these seemingly ordinary snapshots, it tells deeper stories of cultural identity, belonging, and migration experience. It highlights the value of genuine human connection and reminds us that powerful stories often reside within the quiet rhythms of everyday life.
References
Mullins, C. (2015). Rinko Kawauchi: Illuminance. Aperture.
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Because of some personal family matters, I wasn’t able to do my presentation during the final week. So here, I’d like to explain the layout of each page in my photobook and the reasons behind my image selections.
The overall concept is to document and tell the story of Chinese families living in New Zealand — as a Chinese woman myself, reflecting the everyday life and cultural identity we carry here. To highlight our heritage, the background of each page is white with a subtle watermark of auspicious Chinese cloud motifs, symbolizing peace, happiness, and family harmony. Each chapter is marked with Chinese red to emphasize our stories and draw out the core theme.
This photobook consists of four chapters:
Chapter 1: Food Chinese people see food as an essential part of family connection and emotional bonds. I chose my friend Kelly, who owns a Chinese restaurant in Albany, as a key subject. Every morning, she joins a group workout with her friends and then heads to the Chinese supermarket for fresh produce. Her restaurant is located in Albany’s Chinese community area, and she starts her busy day preparing meals. I captured detailed shots of her hands, often scarred from hot oil splashes, to highlight the hard work behind every dish — the daily life of a hardworking Chinese woman running her business through cooking.
Chapter 2: Education This chapter focuses on my other close friend Polly, who runs an art education centre in Albany. I photographed her daily classes, the children learning art, and Polly juggling her role as a mother while nurturing young talents. It reflects the passion, struggle, and hopes for the next generation in the Chinese immigrant community.
Chapter 3: Faith This chapter is about my mother’s Christian faith. She participates in early morning prayer meetings with her church group, does housework, and spends time with friends and grandchildren in playgrounds. She joins Chinese small group gatherings for worship, prayers, and meals, and ends her days with personal evening prayers. It’s a reflection of how faith sustains many Chinese immigrant families emotionally and spiritually here.
Chapter 4: Family This part portrays our everyday family life. Morning routines with my daughter going to school, my husband working on his business in the garage (while I repeatedly have to wake him up!), and my daughter saying goodbye to our cat before school. I captured her adapting to both Kiwi and Chinese cultural habits — like choosing Western-style breakfasts while introducing Chinese shadow puppet shows at school.
This chapter also includes our family gatherings — my husband’s birthday dinner (as Chinese people love hotpot for celebrations), men’s gathering dinners, and my daughter’s birthday party.
At the end, there’s a page featuring a traditional Chinese calendar with blessings for joy and peace, alongside scripture verses, symbolizing the spiritual and cultural values that anchor our lives.
The entire photobook represents the beautiful blend of Eastern and Western cultures, showing how we’ve found our balance and built a happy, fulfilling life here in New Zealand.
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Photographic Campaign Plan
Template for a photographic campaign
CONCEPT
Who do you want to photograph?
Chinese women and girl
What might link the group together?
Their life in New Zealand
What do they have in common?
They are from China and live in Auckland now.
What are potential strengths to the concept?
More people we know how Chinese people’s life in New Zealand.
More communication through the photograph book, they will more understand for Chinese culture.
What are the potential threats or weaknesses to the concept?
Daily life theme may feel too gentle- lacking dramatic tension or conflict. It is worth identifying imperfect or contrasting moments within everyday life to make the story more moving.
Who are the group?
Overview: What is the project?
What is the objective?
Target audience
Main message communicated
Locations
My mum - retired
Church, daily life
Bible, her handbag, faith materials
Kiwi community
Her life in New Zealand, friendships, and faith
Home, church, gathering places
My daughter - Kingsway Year 6
School, study class, daily life
Books, notebooks, school bag, scooter
Kiwi community
A happy, adaptive life of a second-generation Chinese Kiwi kid
School, tutoring venues
My friend Kelly - owner of a Chinese restaurant
Restaurant daily life
Pots, pans, utensils, daily business items
Kiwi community
A reflection of business life, women’s independence and resilience
Restaurant, home, markets
My friend Polly - owner of a painting school
Art school daily life
Painting boards, classrooms, art supplies
Kiwi community
Chinese kids' art education in NZ, blending different cultures
Classrooms, home
Myself - construction company owner and student
Study, daily life, design projects
Design works, personal belongings
Kiwi and Chinese community
Cultural exchange through study, personal projects, and life
Home, school, other places like drop-off/pick-up spots
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I was really surprised when I found this book at home. The title is simply Australia, but its subtitle includes Life, Landscape, and People. It’s a large-scale photobook where every section, story, and visual connection is incredibly strong and cohesive.
The Landscape section takes up full double-page spreads, and the way it presents the natural scenery is so immersive and powerful — it left a deep impression on me.
It also focuses a lot on people, portraying their daily lives, entertainment, arts, and all aspects of human experience. It’s such a brilliant reference for me. What makes it so inspiring is how the book weaves together nature, culture, economy, sports, and lifestyle, turning each photograph into a visual story with meaning.
The entire book feels authentic, with a consistent use of natural light, unpretentious imagery, and every photo tells a subtle story on its own. I think this is a great standard for me to learn from in creating my own photobook.
Ref: Brian Morris. Australia take a bow Australia: Wildlight photo agency 1988
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