Ancient Egypt, the great civilization that once rose on the banks of the Nile, ultimately could not escape the erosion of time and the unpredictability of fate. The once prosperous cities were engulfed by the desert, the magnificent temples and palaces became desolate and silent amidst the endless dust.The once soaring pyramids and grand temples now lie in ruins due to war and natural decay. The inscriptions on steles and reliefs have gradually become blurred and indecipherable as time passed. With temples abandoned and hieroglyphs forgotten, the once splendid stories of this ancient civilization have long been buried beneath the storys of history along with their former kings.
In this project, I examined the artificial landscapes of ancient Egypt's Old and New Kingdoms from a new and fresh viewpoint instead of as a tourist.These landscapes, weathered by wind and sand, present a unique appearance that allows me to explore the decline of civilizations and humanity's fragility in the face of nature.The originally meaningful architectures have been objectified and gradually lost the connotation their creators imbued them with, becoming mere components in the broader process of human development or even transforming into tourist attractions. The broken steles, eroded walls, and abandoned temples depicted in the images narrate their original stories while revealing the profound impact of natural forces on human creations.In the process of my creation, I deliberately avoided including people in the images. This allows viewers to focus on how these artificial landscapes have merged with their surroundings over thousands of years, ultimately presenting a desolate and soulless ambiance. In order to make the image more neutral, objective and calm in the way of presentation, I try to draw inspiration from archival photography. Finally, I used the classical technique “cyanotype” to simulate the passage of time to preserve the inherent historical features of the images.
Meanwhile, I placed the photographs in sand-filled basins that viewers need to brush away the sand covering the photos to reveal their true appearance, allowing the audience to better immerse themselves in my work. Furthermore, the vast desert is used as my exhibition site and paired it with the sky at the blues moment to create a mysterious atmosphere in the virtual exhibition. I also created a sand table model of the Egyptian landscape to help the audience better understand the impact of natural terrain on ancient Egyptian relics.
