What was the inspiration for the series?
From the beginning, I was interested in the issue of time. There are three possibilities with these images: it could be something that happened, something that was recreated, or something that was completely imagined. But suppose these were events that happened in 1975, is it possible to recreate all the details? Can you get the exact flower that was there, or have the sun shining exactly where it was? It's not possible; so perhaps it's just the essence of a memory.
Why do the subjects all have their eyes closed?
About 99 per cent of photos have people with their eyes open. There's nothing special about having open eyes in a photo, but when there are closed eyes, it can raise a whole set of questions: is the subject dreaming, or happy, or remembering something? There are many times in life when your eyes are closed, and there are many different reasons. People are themselves when their eyes are closed.
Where did you find the models?
For the early shots, I mostly used people I encountered on the street who had a certain look I was looking for. The photos up to No 24 were taken with people from Guangzhou and Shenyang, and I just found them day by day.
'The shots from 2009 were all taken in Beijing. I hired all the models from a TV station. I had to pick from a big group of people – after looking at them from a distance, I picked out a few people to watch specifically, and observed them for 20-30 minutes. All the people I picked have a certain feeling or look to them; they represent the kind of people I understand.
Some of them asked me what I wanted while I was shooting them, but I didn't want them to really understand any more than they had to. What I want is the only thing that matters. I just gave them very basic instructions – I told them very simply: "Don't think about anything. Just close your eyes and sit there, I'll take care of everything else."
Why are there so few works between 2006 and 2009?
There are no photos from between 2007 and 2009 because I was sick during that time – I was bedridden for two years, and couldn't move. But I knew the series wasn't finished. When I could think about it, I did – there are about 30 photos from the series which are ones that I thought of while I was ill. At that time, my personal individual ideas weren't important – I wanted to know what the earlier works were saying, and I adapted the following shots from there.
How did you decide that the series was finally finished?
When I first started the series, I knew how many shots I wanted to take. But the project began to take its own shape – it's like when a child begins to have his own thoughts. So I started to listen to the ideas coming from the project itself. Actually, it might not be totally done with these 75 shots. I don't know when – it could be tomorrow, it could be a year from now, but I'll ask again and see if there's more to be done.
This exhibition is the first time that the whole series can be considered together. Not all 75 will be displayed, because there isn't enough space, but I will help choose a selection of 30 or so.
Berwin Song
Some Days will be at M97 Gallery until Sunday 26 June. See event details.
A hard cover collection of the series, published by M97, is available at the gallery, priced at 300RMB.