The Kang is a large heated platform, ubiquitous in the rural homes of Northern China the hearth and heart of the house. At night the kang is a bed for the whole family to sleep. When day comes the comforters are carefully folded and it becomes a place where family and friends gather, for food, tea, shred cigarettes, games…

This series of portraits was shot in Gansu, one of the poorest province in China. Many of the people portrayed here have little income and rely on their relatives gone to the city to make a living. Sitting on the home kang, they show a dignity they are too often denied. An embroidered piece of fabric, a world map, duvets carefully folded or rolled up, pictures of landscapes from the Yellow Mountains to the Maldives, roaring tigers and chubby babies, family portraits…these details surrounding them tell us their stories, their aspirations, their customs. They are a window to the home’s soul. Treasures in a life of destitution.

Jing Dingxia, (72) with his wife Zhao Nunu, (68). Their grandson Baoyu is currently studying business English in Lanzhou  and would like to go on studying for a masters degree which would enable him to find work in a big city but they

Inside the home of Jing and Zhao. A photo of their grandson Baoyu with his grand father is placed against the mirror.

Chen Xiuling (32) years old with her two children He Yawen (9) and He Guanghui (6). Chen's husband is a migrant worker in the South of Gansu 4 hours by bus from the family home. He sets up electric lines in the countryside and comes back home every

Embroidery made by Chen on fabric covering the couch.

73 years old An Shoujia. An is a strong believer in Buddha and thinks he is helping her with her ailments (back pain). Her husband was working in the fields when this picture was taken.

Across from An's kang, bags of grains have been stocked.

Fu Wenbin (15) on the kang he shares with his dad Fu Decang, (50).  Wenbin was mostly brought up by his grandmother, as his father spent 5 years in prison. The grandma passed away when he came out, two years ago. Wenbin will be e

32 years old Niu Binggui, with his three years old son Haoran. Niu Binggui is a cook for a construction company in Ningxia province several hundred kilometers away from the family hometown.  He is now is own boss in charge of the catering

Yu Zhanglai (67) with his wife Dong Juming (67). In their village, Yu Jiaping, the majority has moved down to the newly built settlements. A house there costs 200K RMB (32,000 US$) and they can't afford to move. A new road has been built between the

Tea pot on the burner at the home of Yu Zhanglai and his wife.

Li Caiping (46). She has 2 daughters and 1 son. Her eldest daughter is a dancer in a show for tourists at the National Park of Jiuzhaigou (Sichuan) and helps Li financially. She has a bad leg resulting from a birth defect. Li rents out her land

Wang Huanguo, (77), has bound feet and can't remember exactly when they started bandaging her feet but probably when she was around 4 years old. In those days, all the girls would get their feet bound. This practice stopped when Mao took power

Wang Huanguo needs a stick to walk with her bound feet.

Jin Fener, (63) with her granddaughter Ma Xiyang, (12). Xiyang's father is mentally ill and recently cracked his skull open in a bad fall. He has been bedridden for a month. She has to look after both of them with barely any income. Her hu

From left to right : Wang Yandi (16) Wang Lei (5) Wang Yanxia (21). Lei's mother is working over a thousand kilometers away in a supermarket in Xinjiang where the wages are higher. Yandi & Yanxia, two sisters, are taking care

72 years old Chen Guiqin, with her 73 years old husband Liu Yanggao. Living with them and taking care of them is one of their two daughters who recently gave birth to a little girl. She is unhappy to have to stay in the village and would rather

The ancestors altar in the home of Chen Guiqin and Liu Yanggao. The calligraphy is a quote from former Communist Party Secretary Jiang Zemin.

70 years old Peng Jinjin,  all smiles with his newly born grand daughter Xiyuan laying on the kang next to him.  All is not happiness in Peng's life, though. His son committed suicide after his wife left him, leaving Peng in charge of

Peng Yongjie, 38 yo, with his wife 30 years old Di Jinfang and their 40 days old daughter. Peng And Di have been trying to have a baby since they got married 8 years ago. They have sought help from local private clinics with no success and at m

74 years old Wang Juju. During the Great Hunger of the early 60's, his 9 siblings left the region in search of food. He never saw them again. He himself was two weeks without eating anything. Nowadays he survives, producing honey with four beehives.

65 years old, Niu Wenxuan. Besides farming, Niu has a passion for calligraphy and he occasionally does restoration of old scrolls. The scrolls hanging above his kang dates back from the Qing Dynasty.

22 years old Niu Taotao, left her village at 17 to work in Beijing, after 3 years there she came back to her village to take care of her younger brother (their parents have died). She has a boyfriend who she was introduced to through a relative. He

The living space across from the Kang in Niu's home.

72 years old Yao Gouwa,  with his wife, Liu Yinxiang, also 72. She is in pain from hypertension. Liu is in pain from hypertension, a very common affliction among elders in the region.

12 years old He Tiantian on the kang she shares with her aunt who is raising her. Her mother died in an accident when she was 5 and her father has not been heard of after he left the village to find some work the same year.  She

65 years old Zheng Julian on her broken kang. 8 years ago Zheng and her family had to leave their village 50 kilometers away officially because of desertification. She complains that the land they were given is no better than the one they left and s

90 years old, Li Shutao, has 20 grandchildren, most of them migrant workers but they keep foot in the village. In his youth Li was a farm worker travelling on train rooftops following the harvest season from county to county, all the way t

Jiang Shuanwa (62) with her husband  He Mingyi (64). At the age of 17, relatives introduced Jiang to a local young man she was supposed to marry. Jiang felt otherwise and wasn't so keen on the chosen one, so when her path crossed that

The wall at the entrance of Jang and He's home.

Zhang Guizi (71). In his home, Zhang has a huge poster of Mao. Even though he complains about the destruction of the local Taoist Temple during the cultural revolution, he worships Mao who he says got his family out of poverty. Before the revol

The coal burning stove next to Zhang's kang.

Liu Lucheng, 84 yo, with his wife Yang Fanxiu, 83. They don't have energy any more to take care of their field. Their only son died in 2008.

Yang Fanxiu spends her days making straw hats.

12 years old Xie Hong with her grandparents who are taking care of her. Hong's mum left her after the death of her father (often widows don't stay with in-laws in poor rural China, even at the cost of leaving the children behind). Hong's grandparent

Lunch is warming up on the stove in Hong's home.

Mongolia In Trance

Staged Reality