Zhanchao Pan

......Lotus

……Lotus is a photobook about memory, space, and spiritual experiences, a journey between self and faith. The work stems from my experience of becoming connected with Buddhism due to my physical fragility—the initial yearning was to find solace in the tranquility of the temple. The camera returns to my hometown, documenting those corners I frequented as a child, yet which carried a subtle unease. Those spaces bear traces of the past and reflect the unease and longing within.

Eight small lotus-shaped sheets of paper slowly emerge from the book, like glimmers of light rising from the shadows of unease. They not only mark the time of my connection with Buddhism but also symbolize the tranquility and hope born from vulnerability and anxiety. The interior pages are made of semi-transparent tracing paper, creating an effect of layering, blurring, and revelation as the images and paper are turned—this material itself visually and tactilely simulates the uncertainty of memory and the subtle feelings of unease.

Reading the book is a slow unfolding: unease and peace, secrecy and revelation, memory and the present flow and intertwine between the pages. Each page is like a pause in breathing, each photograph a whispered conversation between light and shadow. The work attempts to establish a connection between the visible and the invisible, making the viewer realize that comfort is not something externally given, but rather a lotus flower quietly growing in hidden places. The images, the paper, and the viewer's perception resonate with each other, forming a fluid, open space—both familiar and strange, both secretive and serene. The translucent texture of the tracing paper adds a slight delay and a sense of concealment with each turn, symbolizing the layers of memory and the inner glimmer of light, and also reinforcing the tranquility that slowly emerges from unease.