Series - FotoSlovo 2026 - Category « Trip / Essay »

Seen/Unseen: The Migrant Children observes and documents migrant workers and their children in Beijing, a highly underrepresented community from China's less developed regions that temporarily migrates to urban centers for better employment and educational opportunities. Migrant workers contribute to China's rapid urbanization and enjoy some of the benefits of urban life. However, they remain marginalized and face institutionalized discrimination.

During my voluntary service for a non-profit organization in two migrant villages in Beijing, I initiated this project, collaborating with a group of migrant children to teach them photography, provide them with disposable film cameras, and enable them to document their lives in Beijing. The work comprises two visual components: portraits of the migrant children, taken by me as deadpan observations of their harsh living conditions; candid and playful snapshots captured by the children using the cameras I provided, revealing deeply authentic perspectives from true insiders. Meanwhile, the children's handwritten notes indicate their experiences living in Beijing and their hometowns.

This project is a participatory visual investigation that shifts power in discourse and challenges the traditional subject-object dynamic in documentary photography. It reveals both the visible and hidden aspects of migrant children's lived realities in Beijing, reflecting the complexity of China's ongoing rapid urbanization.