A gallery of photos are buzzing around blogs and forums on the Chinese Internet. Each photo in the series features a different set of characters that share the same setting, a shabby two-person hotel room.
Blogger Ruan Yifeng reposted these photos on his blog with the comment, “I saw these photos in an Internet forum. Amazing. They are all very authentic and quite reflective of our abnormal society.”
But to see the photos as a realistic reflection or criticism of social morbidity is not the only angle to appreciate them; take a closer look, you may find these photos do resemble a mystery/detective movie.
Like many interesting posts that circulate on the Internet in China, this gallery is unattributed. Shorn of context, the photos may even lead viewers to wonder whether the creator is trying to exploit the viral nature of Internet posts to promote a new movie (or book). Ruan points out similarities to a set of images featuring western models, also in a low-end motel room, but does not provide an artist’s name for that set, either.
Update: In the comments section, “jinghua” points us to Douban galleries of the photos and the SUPERCHINA shoot, which was done for the April issue of O’ZINE (O’ZINE符号).
More photos below:
- Ruan Yifeng’s blog (Chinese): Those stories in the hotel
- Pchome.net (Chinese): Look at what people do in a hotel room