Fieldwork
A reverse-chronological diary of where I have been, what I've found, and what I'm still trying to understand. Updated as I go.
Every dot is a place I have spent time. Project colours match the legend. The home base in Shenzhen is starred.
Group livestreaming during the Spring Festival rush in Yiwu
Followed three livestream teams through the small-commodity wholesale market during the busiest weeks of the year. Continued tracking how labour shifts from market floor to camera frame.
Pandas, Du Fu, and a long autumn in Luoyang
Began the historical-figures project at Du Fu's birthplace shrine in Gongyi. Continued multispecies fieldwork at the Chengdu Research Base. Fan-organized memorial event in Luoyang turned out to be the central case study for what would become Project V.
Short-video industry hubs — Changsha to Quanzhou
First scoping fieldwork for Project IV. Spent two weeks in micro-drama production hubs in Hunan, then moved on to interviewing AI-drama writers in Shenzhen. The pace of change made it clear this would be a multi-year project.
Moved to Shenzhen · joined CUHKSZ
Began my appointment at CUHK Shenzhen. Established home base for Greater Bay Area projects and started teaching the Sustainable Cultural Futures course that would later anchor much of my pedagogical work.
Hanfu communities, between Nanjing & Kaifeng
The hanfu-photography project began as a side study during a residency in Nanjing. By autumn it had its own trajectory — costume-rental cluster in Caoxian, deep tradition revivalists in Kaifeng.
First livestream fieldwork in the GBA
Started Project III with a pilot study in Guangzhou wholesale clothing markets. Quickly clear the project would need to scale across the Greater Bay Area.
Pandemic — fieldwork from a distance
No physical fieldwork. Started reading fan forums and watching panda live-cams from Oxford. The earliest pieces of what would become Project I came together this year.
Photo archive coming soon