Izzy & ZUOLAB

After the revolutionary path of “the countryside surrounding the cities,” China entered the new century with a reverse trend — a wave of cities expanding into the countryside. Urban villages have become a unique urban landscape in China, emerging from the rapid, large-scale urbanization of the past 30 years.

This phenomenon is especially typical in Shenzhen, the hometown of photographer Izzy Li.

When Izzy returned to China after graduating in the United States, she found that Shenzhen’s urban environment was changing faster than she expected. She chose to use the medium most familiar to her —photography — to document her rapidly transforming hometown and made it into a zine named Urbanvillage.

价格 135

Everyone feels the same way when they miss loved ones who have passed away, yet the ways they express it vary greatly. Photographer Izzy Li is deeply interested in the Chinese cultural taboo surrounding “death” as well as Western approaches to death education. This motivation became the central theme of this book.

This book, Not the End, features cemeteries across the United States that Izzy visited during her school years, focusing her lens on tombstones and various memorial decorations that convey mourning and remembrance.

The timeline spans major holidays such as Christmas, New Year’s, Independence Day, and Día de los Muertos. During the course of this project, Izzy experienced personal

changes, and photographing cemeteries became a unique way for her to relieve stress.

Izzy Li's grandaunt’s family immigrated and settled in a small city, Manchester, in the state of New Hampshire, which is located in the Northeastern U.S. Apparently, New Hampshire is not a popular choice of Chinese immigration; Li’s grandaunt’s family is the only Asian family in the community, and Li’s two cousins were raised in a typical middle-class American social atmosphere.

In 2022, Izzy visited her grandaunt’s family during the Christmas holiday and noticed that the interior design and decor still looked very Chinese and old-fashioned. Since the grandaunt’s family was atheist, their garden was the only one in the community without Christmas decorations. Izzy found it interesting and began photographing what she observed.  

When Izzy cozied up with her cousins, Michelle and Kelvin, they found that despite receiving quite different educations and social backgrounds, in many situations and decision-making, the elders take the same horrendous perspective. Izzy’s grandparents, Michelle and Kelvin’s parents, all hope the younger generation will get married and have their own children—the sooner, the better. These unhealthy thoughts trapped Izzy, Michelle, and Kelvin and led to many arguments.

After the conversation, Izzy decided to gather photos she had taken from her grandaunt’s house and to film the family’s interaction consciously—they might not understand each other. Still, flesh and blood tie them firmly, with no doubt.

76pp, tracing paper inner pages, cover by coated paper, 300x150 mm, sewn-bound, 2025

Zuo’s mother suddenly fell ill a while ago, and after the operation, she began to recuperate at home for a long time, and Zuo was the one who took care of her. When they stayed together for several days, Zuo felt calm, and everything seemed to return to the way it was when her mom was still healthy.

Zuo used black and white film, and Zuo’s mother held a CCD with a camera in her hand (she had never used a camera before), and they walked together, unfolding their own viewing and companionship. The color photos were taken by Zuo’s mother, and the black-and-white ones were taken by Zuo.

After all this, can they see each other more clearly? Zuo said she didn't know. Maybe everything reminds us of the same, or maybe it's a point where the mother-daughter may start a new circle.

YongLe Village is the place where Zuo’s grandparents lived. It is located in the Guanzhong Plain of Shaanxi Province, it is a common small village in the northwestern part of China, with little information even online.

In the old days, like summer holidays and Chinese New Year, Zuo would often return to the village and stay for a while. The villagers and playmates almost always recognize each other again amid unfamiliarity and forgetfulness.

After graduating from college and working, Zuo rarely goes there anymore. YongLe Village began to take on the air of an old-fashioned, beautiful memory and gradually blurred in Zuo’s mind.

Last spring, Zuo’s grandfather’s health condition suddenly became very bad. Later, he gradually transferred from the ICU Ward to a regular ward, and then to a rehabilitation hospital for treatment. The most difficult stage has finally been overcome, but temporarily. Zuo started spending more time, intentionally or unintentionally, visiting her grandpa, chatting with him, or sunbathing on the balcony, and returning to the village for a walk and a breeze.

“The color of small villages in the Northwest is reddish yellow and almost transparent blue.” Zuo recalled, “When farmers are working on the ground, the boundaries of the lands will disappear; In life, the horizon is even more vast and distant.” Zuo saw the sky, clouds, moon, and fruits, several households, and some rural animals.

The intention in making this artist’s book for Zuo is to return to specific people and things, to get closer to the ordinary, and to continue becoming life itself.