RongRong&inri

Series of Tsumari Story，2012～2014

No.2-3 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/102×109cm	No.1-9 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/102×109cm	No.1-34 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/102×109cm
No.12-1 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/102×109cm	No.12-5 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/102×109cm	No.1 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/102×109cm

Series of Caochangdi，2004～2011

2004 No.2 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/102×109cm	2008 No.5 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/102×109cm	2008 No.1 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/102×109cm
2009 No.5 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/102×109cm	2006 No.3 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/102×109cm	2011 No.6 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/102×109cm

Series of Three Shadows，2005～2009

2006 No.9-3 Gelatin silver print  50.8×60cm/135×135cm	2006 No.20-3 Gelatin silver print  50.8×60cm/135×135cm	2008 No.20-4 Gelatin silver print  50.8×60cm/135×135cm
2006 No.9-1 Gelatin silver print  50.8×60cm/135×135cm	2006 No.2-2 Gelatin silver print  50.8×60cm/135×135cm	2002 No.2-1 Gelatin silver print  50.8×60cm/135×135cm

Series of Liulitun，2002～2003

2003 No.9 Gelatin silver print  42×42cm/100×100cm	2002 No.16 Gelatin silver print  42×42cm/100×100cm	2002 No.14 Gelatin silver print  42×42cm/100×100cm
2002 No.3 Gelatin silver print  42×42cm/100×100cm	2002 No.13 Gelatin silver print  42×42cm/100×100cm	2002 No.1 Gelatin silver print  42×42cm/100×100cm

Series of We are here，2002

No.3 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 100×145cm/180×240cm	No.4 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 100×145cm/180×240cm	No.1 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 100×145cm/180×240cm
No.2 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 100×145cm/180×240cm	No.6 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 100×145cm/180×240cm	No.5 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 100×145cm/180×240cm

Series of  In Fujisan，2001

富士山系列 No.14 50.8×61cm/100×135cm 明胶卤化银	富士山系列 No.15 50.8×61cm/100×135cm 明胶卤化银	富士山系列 No.7 50.8×61cm/100×135cm 明胶卤化银
No.8 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/100×135cm	No.5 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/100×135cm	No.1 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/100×135cm

Series of  In Bad Goisern, Austria ，2001

No.5 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/100×100cm	No.4 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/100×100cm	No.6 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/100×100cm
No.3 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/100×100cm	No.1 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/100×100cm	No.2 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 50.8×61cm/100×100cm

Series of In Jiayuguan，2000～2001

No.5 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/100×100cm	No.4 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/100×100cm	No.1 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/100×100cm
No.2 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/100×100cm

Series of In Yulongxueshan，2000～2001

No.3 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/100×136cm

No.1 Gelatin silver print  50.8×61cm/100×136cm

Series of In the Great Wall，2000

No.1 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 100×100cm

No.2 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 100×100cm

No.3 Hand-dyed on Gelatin Silver Print 100×100cm

Tsumari Story

RongRong & inri

Broadly speaking, the types of precipitation that have form and fall from the sky are rain, snow, hail, and sleet. Dew is a vapor in the earth that produces round beads of water; frost is the frozen form of this vapor, its shape depending on the coldness of the air. The earth’s vapors rise up into the skies to become rain, snow, hail and sleet, but if they come into contact with warm air, they all revert to water. Water fills the entire earth and returns to the earth in this way. In the depths of the earth, there is inevitably a warm vapor. When it becomes warmer, the ‘earth’ exhales vapor into the heavens in the same way that human breathe. This continues ceaselessly, day and night. The ‘heavens’ also exhale a ‘vapor’ that descends to the ‘earth’; this is what I call the breathing of heaven and earth. It is the same as the exhalation and inhalation of human breath. The breath of heaven and earth nourishes all things. If the breath of heaven and earth changes from its usual state, it causes disturbances in times of heat and cold. Storms, heavy rains and other convulsions of nature are caused by the sickness of the heaven and earth.

From: SUZUKI Bokushi, Hokuetsu Seppu Vol. 1 [Snow stories of North Koshi Province] (1837)

Since ancient times, the area surrounding Echigo-Tsumari in Niigata Prefecture has been renowned as one of the snowiest districts of Japan and in winter snows blankets the landscape. Hokuetsu Seppu is a book, written during the nineteenth century that describes the numerous hardships that have confronted people living there throughout history as they struggle to live in such a harsh natural environment. On occasion of our participation in the Echigo- Tsumari Art Triennale 2012, we felt it necessary to reexamine the relationship that exists between nature and humankind, leading to the commencement of the work that comprises this photographic series.

The breath of heaven and earth nourishes all things. People’s lives and deaths have always remained closely related to heaven and earth. A life that did not conform to heaven and earth would result in a deep illness in later years. Like the plants that hold their breath under the weight of snow, our lives also originate and are nurtured by the same earth. The dignity of the forests, that incorporate the workings of all life, sends a shudder down the spine of those who enter them unprepared, forcing us to acknowledge that humans are not their equals. As we head towards the rural landscapes that people have gradually established within this vastness, we gradually recall the distant memories that have come down to us through our individual memories.

Produced over a period of approximately two years, from 2012 to 2014, this series of photographs underwent a fundamental change in direction due to the fact that during the course of working on it, we came to live in Japan. Three-and-a-half years after the 3.11 earthquake, people still have no clue how to solve the problems created by the enormous natural and manmade disasters it caused because the true nature of these problems has yet to be revealed and the whole country remains in chaos. Our initial intention for this series was to reflect a worldview based on the image created by the origin of the name of this area, ‘Tsumari’ and its local legends. We wandered through the snow-covered maze with no clear objective, imagining a story of a man and a woman who are seized by extreme emotions while living within Tsumari’s harsh natural environment. However, as the series progressed, we began to question the necessity of burying ourselves at this time in a worldview comprising of hackneyed aesthetics with no sense of the future. Despite our loss of direction we continued to photograph and just as we were about to give up all hope of completion, we returned to the basis of creativity, namely we asked ourselves ‘what do we need to aspire to in order to demonstrate our present attitude towards life?’ We were saved by the crystalline waters of the melted snow from Mt. Hakkaisan and when this flow became one with the ‘cycle of life’ that had formed the basis of our prior work, the roar of the surging waters seemed to flow through my entire body, purifying me.

I would like to dedicate this story to my late father who fit into the scenery of the terraced rice fields better than anyone else, staying at Myokayama primary school with us while we searched the mountains for wild edible plants. Finally, we would also like to offer our sincere gratitude to everybody who assisted us in the creation of this story.

RongRong & inri

RongRong (China) and inri (Japan) have been working together since 2000. Their works reflect the intimate world that they have created together, while pushing the boundaries of traditional black-and-white darkroom techniques. Their past critically acclaimed series of works, such as Mt. Fuji, in Nature, Liulitun, and Tsumari Story focus on the beauty of the human body in nature and the urban environment. Their recent work brings attention to the beauty and value of new beginnings in their shared life and surroundings, especially amidst a rapidly changing world.

In 2007, RongRong & inri established the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in the Caochangdi art district of Beijing, the premier platform for international communication. They also started the annual Three Shadows Photography Award to discover and encourage China's most promising photographers. In 2015，Three Shadows Photography Art Centre established by RongRong&inri organized Jimei X Arles International Photo Festival in partnership with Les Recontres d’Arles. RongRong&inri received the Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize at the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards.They are being recognised for both their careers as artists and their significant impact on Asian photography.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITION:

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:

Smart Gallery of University of Chicago, USA

Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

ESSL MUSEUM, Vienna

The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Ivory Press, Spain

Myriam Guy Ullens foundation, Switzerland

LVMH Foundation, France

The Red Mansion Foundatio, UK 

The Estella Collection, Denmark

Sigg Collection, Swizerland 

Tempere Art Museum, Finland

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Japan

Shiseido, Japan

He Xiangning Art Museum, China

Three Shadows Photography Art Center, China

AW Asia, USA

Getty Museum, USA

DSL Collection, France

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA

Shanghai Art Museum, China