` Ben * 24 
 ╱  Vietnam                     


My things

My things, 2025. 45 chromogenic photos, 1 written letter, and various miscellaneous 2D objects, wrapped in a plastic bag, dimensions variable.


I have never really understood what it means to have a family photo album—to look back and rewind through time. Instead, there’s only a plastic bag filled with photographs, passed down from my mother. With no fixed place to stay and frequent separations, the bag was often tucked away in boxes of clothes, never properly stored. Everything remained compact, always ready for the next move. I was surprised when I scanned the bag and noticed its texture on the scanner. At that moment, I realized that it could serve as a means to reflect on our transient lifestyle and its influence on us.

To situate one’s identity through a collection of archival photos doesn’t always feel fair, as they only provide fragments of our micro-history. Many vital moments were either never documented or were lost amid the chaos of our reality. However, at the same time, I think these gaps allow space for imagination—to think, reconstruct, and fill in the missing pieces. I once asked my mother if she remembered the color of the dress she wore for her engagement ceremony. She said she didn’t. In our family, there is a tendency to destroy photographs that evoke painful memories, and as a result, the plastic bag is now mostly filled with photos of me as a child.

The non-linearity of time is also a significant aspect of this experience. For people like us, coming from a blue-collar labor background, documenting was never a deliberate act. Instead, it happened sporadically—often only on occasions like birthdays or graduations—leaving behind mysterious gaps in the visual narrative of my growth. Memory, therefore, takes on the role of filling in these blanks, recollecting and piecing together fragments through conversation, resisting the inevitable fading of remembrance over time for both my mother and me. 

Through this work, I also aim to explore my perception of the concept of a family photo album and what it means to have “a family” to look back on.

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The complete rendition of this work remains in a private status.

Work , Exhibitions , Bio