Documentary photography; After 365 days by Sihan Cui

This project focuses on the other side of the tragedy: how does it traumatize the family. After Yang’s death, the whole family has suffered from the loss of loved ones but still have to stand up and face everything, they’re also victims.

I met Hai and his mother Shi in November 2018. By the time, it had been a year since Yang fell from 4th floor.

Yang was a sex worker who lived in Flushing. November 2017, she fell off from the fourth-floor balcony during the police arrest and died. This incident was reported as an influential article in the New York Times.

After Yang’s death, her family came to New York to take care of everything. Her younger brother Hai and her mother Shi have stayed in Flushing for more than a year. During this time, Yang’s death caused a lot of social attention, Hai doesn’t believe that his sister jumped off the fourth floor on her own. He did everything he could try to “find the truth” for his sister. After a year, things have changed a lot, people might don’t usually remember that there was a girl who had fallen on 40th Street in Flushing. But for Yang’s family, it seems that nothing has changed. Every day of the year, they are trapped in this tragedy.

This project focuses on the other side of the tragedy: how does it traumatize the family. After Yang’s death, the whole family has suffered from the loss of loved ones but still have to stand up and face everything, they’re also victims. I try to show this very important part of tragedy by documenting Hai and his mother’s life in New York. They never moved on, everything about this family ever since seems to be related to the incident: Hai and his mother live alone in a foreign country with very poor English. They have to deal with complicated document procedures while suffering from the grief, trying to get some clue from words they cannot even understand. Hai used to have a promising job in Shanghai, China. But after the incident, he quit the job and came to New York for his sister. He has no economic income for more than a year. All expenses for their life in New York are sponsored by the savings of the family, which have caused serious economic pressure to the family. The family has to separate for more than a year. Hai’s father already spent two Lunar New Year alone in China, on which day everyone else got a reunion with family. Hai’s wife took care of their son at home, she has to find a balance between her work and family. She was so overwhelmed and stressed out that her attitude gradually changed from being supportive to ask her husband to come back home immediately. In late November 2018, the mother Shi was knocked down by some guy on the street in Flushing, just 5 days before their flight back to China. She was badly injured and got through serious surgery. They had no choice but to cancel the flight and stay in New York for recovering……

A tragedy occurred may cause a long-term subsequent influence on a family, it can go deep into the most subtle aspects of life. But this kind of trauma is actually invisible, trivial, like the most secretive wound. It’s very easy for people to ignore. But it’s a long-lasting torture for victims of the tragedy, and they’re not able to escape from it.

One of the many factors that have to be considered is that Yang was a Chinese immigrant in the United States. The identity of the outsider puts her in an isolated situation. Yang’s incident may be an extreme case, but it also shows commonalities between Chinese immigrants in America: language barriers, huge cultural differences, lack of identity, struggling at the bottom of society, and the lack of effective protection, all of these leading to the distrust and sensitive attitude of Chinese immigrants to the United States. They always existed on this land as an outsider. While pursuing a better life, they are also eager for a sense of belonging. When they came here with an “American dream”, maybe they knew this dream could become a fragile bubble just due to their vulnerable situation, or maybe they didn’t.

About Sihan Cui

Sihan Cui is a documentary photographer and filmmaker who lives and works in New York City. She was born in Taiyuan, an industrial city located in northern China, in 1996. She graduated from the MFA program in Photography, Video and Related Media department of the School of Visual Arts.

Sihan Cui has been committed to documentary photography and documentary film making. She has been focusing on the diversification of social communities, the living reality of social minorities, and the public’s stereotype towards them. Her photography project “520”, which is about the betel nuts beauty in Taiwan, was shot for three months in 2017. She has completed a subway busker documentary photography project The Dawn in Beijing, China in 2018. The project “520” was shown at the 17th Pingyao Photography Festival.

Sihan Cui went to the School of Visual Arts for the MFA program in September 2018. After moving to New York, she noticed that Chinese immigrants’ living status in New York is very special and complicated, especially for the “new immigrants” who have moved to America after the 1980s. She began to focus on the current situation of Chinese labor immigrants in the United States and worked on a series of projects about that. In November 2018, Sihan Cui met Hai and Shi, the family of the victim of the falling case in Flushing, and began to document their life in New York since then. The project “After 356 days” finished by March 2019. From June 2019 to the present, she has been working on an independent documentary The Wave on the theme of Chinese labor immigrants’ current status. The film is still in the post-production process. [Official Website]

 

More Stories

Unspoken Places by Babis Kougemitros

Unspoken Places by Babis Kougemitros

In the series "unspoken places" I attempt to explore uncharted urban and  peri-urban  aspects of contemporary reality, with a glimpse that is mainly  personal.
Japonism & Minimalism by Atom

Japonism & Minimalism by Atom

Minimal expression produces maximum thinking. Atom's experience of visiting many countries resulted in the idea that "the answer is not one, everyone's answer is important."
Inner Beauty by Julien De Wilde

Inner Beauty by Julien De Wilde

Beauty is a relative concept that means something different to all of us. From my point of view, beauty means grace, modesty, sincerity and spirituality. Nothing to do with our appearance. Beauty does not need anything.
https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/bannerpr.jpg

We invite you to participate in the first edition of the Portrait Photography Awards. Our call is open to any artistic interpretation of portrait photography.

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/BAnImage.jpg

ImageRights provides intelligent image search and copyright enforcement services to photo agencies and professional photographers worldwide.

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/mono2022.jpg

The best 100 images along with the winning images published in the yearly book “Monochromatic – Best Photographers of 2022”

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/banner24.jpg

Call For Entries #24 | After 23 editions and more than 100 published photographers, our print edition has proven to be a simply effective promotional channel.

UFO – Unidentified Flowers Outfit

UFO – Unidentified Flowers Outfit

In its evolutionary path, humanity has always been characterized by the desire for knowledge. This desire, this curiosity, this drive has undoubtedly been one of the main engines of progress.
Photographic & Semantically; Frozen situation by Samad Ghorbanzadeh

Photographic & Semantically; Frozen situation by Samad Ghorbanzadeh

Frozen situation the set is called of photography collection that use from documentary and montage method of photography. This collection can be study of two viewpoint: Photographic & Semantically .
Street photography by Urvashi Singh

Street photography by Urvashi Singh

The Dominoes of Deceit places along the frame a vertical and horizontal array of men who are seemingly conflicted and yet non-confrontational.
Interview with Marco Cheli; Published in our printed edition #16

Interview with Marco Cheli; Published in our printed edition #16

I think that Dodho provides a fantastic opportunity for those who want to be recognized by an informed public and by their peers. Seeing my work in the pages of Dodho, well, it is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me, and I have photography to thank for it.
Funeral dress by Kristina Syrchikova

Funeral dress by Kristina Syrchikova

This project is about an elderly woman from Russia affected by cancer. For several years she had been struggling her disease. She received treatment inhospitals, got several courses of chemotherapy
Interview with Alessandro Barteletti; Published in our print edition #05

Interview with Alessandro Barteletti; Published in our print edition #05

The aspect I have mostly appreciated about Dodho Magazine is that it presents the work of photographers with no graphic tricks, respecting their inner personality and this enhances the value of the pictures.
Architecture by Alfons Olle Coderch

Architecture by Alfons Olle Coderch

Architecture is an open book waiting for someone to read and interpret. In all times it has always been the imprint that has left more imprint over time civilizations and / or societies and in contemporary times has not changed that role driven especially
Face to Phase – Me, Myself & Nobody by Marco Castelli

Face to Phase – Me, Myself & Nobody by Marco Castelli

Who am I? What will I be? Why am I here? Where am I going? / In the language of an actor, to know is synonymous with to feel.
Minimal photography; Absence / Presence by Mikael Siirilä

Minimal photography; Absence / Presence by Mikael Siirilä

Absence / Presence project was selected and published in our print edition 18. Mikael was among the early adopters of digital photography. His enthusiastic foray into pixels and post-processing almost suffocated the passion entirely.
5 Great Documentary Photographers

5 Great Documentary Photographers

The Best Documentary Photographers published in Dodho Magazine. The great stories by Javier Arcenillas, Madoka Ikegami, Arthur Lumen, Allison Dinner and Jorge Chavarria.
The inspiration of Vanessa Paxton

The inspiration of Vanessa Paxton

I have always been into art. I love to create and I would do anything to make a living doing something artsy. I cannot even stand the thought of having a regular 9-5 job. My hands are too idle.
Time and slowness; Mountains Bleach by Sandro Livio Straube

Time and slowness; Mountains Bleach by Sandro Livio Straube

It's about the idea of escaping from density and saturation in order to feel time and slowness again.“ “Berge bleichen” or “Mountains Bleach” takes place in the small valley "Val Lumnezia" in the Swiss Graubünden.
Thierry Dulau : Long exposure in Bask Country and Béarn

Thierry Dulau : Long exposure in Bask Country and Béarn

I love capturing architecture and landscape in long exposure, and the place where i live is great for that ! A reflex, a nd filter, a tripod, and it's just i need, to dream and discover the beauty which surrounds me.Let me talk with you, about some photos ...
Aaron Sehmar ; In-between moments

Aaron Sehmar ; In-between moments

Aaron Sehmar - Fine art photography allows me to be able to come up with ideas for images that are a lot more conceptual, where the end result is more of a catalyst for a larger discussion about various topics, such as the purpose of photography, hyperreality, artifice and displacement.
Surreal Worlds of Audrey Simper

Surreal Worlds of Audrey Simper

My love for art allowed me to create stories and images that I saw in my mind and put them on paper for the world to see.
Animeyed by Flora Borsi

Animeyed by Flora Borsi

Flora Borsi is a young fine art photographer from Hungary. She uses exquisite photo manipulation to create surreal images that are thematically focused on identity, relationships, emotions and dreams.

Featured Stories

Kushti, Indian wrestling by Alain Schroeder

Kushti, Indian wrestling by Alain Schroeder

Kushti is the traditional form of Indian wrestling established centuries ago in Persia. In vogue during the 16th century Mughal era, this art is practiced in a type of gymnasium called an Akhara.
Matrimonial Ties by John Paul Evans

Matrimonial Ties by John Paul Evans

Matrimonial ties is a project that encompasses varied responses and challenges to the historical and cultural significance of the wedding portrait in western culture.
The lost paradise by Raquel Chicheri

The lost paradise by Raquel Chicheri

I can see the lights coming on in my house and can already imagine myself standing at the bathroom mirror to inspect the dried sweat lines on my neck, the darkened shade of soiled brown on my arms and hands.
The Children of San Quintin by Griselda San Martin

The Children of San Quintin by Griselda San Martin

Cecilia Sanchez has two children and is pregnant with her third. When asked how far along she is, she simply tilts her head and shrugs. She doesn’t know because she hasn’t been able to see a doctor yet.
White background : White is not a color by Tine Poppe

White background : White is not a color by Tine Poppe

In the days following the 22nd of July 2011 terrorist attack by right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik, the streets of Norway were filled with colorful roses and speeches of love conquering extremism, fear and xenophobia.
My Albania by Claudio Rasano

My Albania by Claudio Rasano

My series shows the fragility side of life in Albania . My portraits are frontal taken at eye level,looking directly and ahead, the face cast in shadow showing a strong and determined expression.
Shiny Ghost by Rachel Cox

Shiny Ghost by Rachel Cox

Rachel Cox lives and works in Lansing, Michigan, USA. Prints from Cox’s series have been presented at The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Houston Center for Photography, David Weinberg Gallery in Chicago, and the Philadelphia Photo Art Center.
Altitude by Hengki Koentjoro

Altitude by Hengki Koentjoro

It’s one of the utmost forms of joy in life: the delight of waking up in the youngest hour of the morning, racing with the break of dawn to ascend the height of the earth.
Swimmers; Spirit above waves by Jan Caga

Swimmers; Spirit above waves by Jan Caga

Spirit above Waves The project shows disabled swimmers in a pool. Almost all people enjoy competing, because it belongs to our human nature, to our animalistic status.
Intimate photography ; I am ready to dream a dream with her by Michiko Chiyoda

Intimate photography ; I am ready to dream a dream with her by Michiko Chiyoda

In my photography, my personal experiences often motivate me to start creating works. Eventually, it leads me to the fundamental theme of our life and I want to express what I think and get from there.
Geometric lines, shapes, patterns and symmetry; Cityscape photography of Jon Deboer

Geometric lines, shapes, patterns and symmetry; Cityscape photography of Jon Deboer

I am a photographer and graphic designer based in Detroit, MI. I moved to the Metro Detroit area in 2006 to attend Lawrence Technological University, and graduated in 2010 with a BFA in Graphic Design
Scotland & The Environment by Gavin Smart

Scotland & The Environment by Gavin Smart

Scotland and the Environment is a conceptual series touching on a variety of contemporary issues facing Scotland today, such as plastic pollution, marine conservation, intensive agriculture and woodland protection.
Portraits of Tertius Alio

Portraits of Tertius Alio

My name is Daniil Kontorovich, also be exhibited under the name of Tertius Alio, which translated from Latin means the observer or grated face.
Still lifes by Belén Argüeso

Still lifes by Belén Argüeso

More or less three years gave me my first camera ...... I'm not a professional photographer ... just a simple fan trying learn and improve every day,. I started taking pictures of my dog, and uploading them to a pet forum
Photochemistry : Pears in the afternoon by Karoline Schneider

Photochemistry : Pears in the afternoon by Karoline Schneider

Originally a fine artist, I swapped my brushes for a camera and my colours for photochemistry. That’s how the ‘paintings’ that I never painted emerged.
Grabarka by Xavier Ferrer Chust

Grabarka by Xavier Ferrer Chust

This is the most important location of Orthodox worship in Poland. Every year Grabarka is visited by more than 10,000 pilgrims. The Holy Mount Grabarka is an important place for pilgrimages by Orthodox believers in Poland

Trending Stories

Austin Gould – Brand Manager at Dripbook

Austin Gould – Brand Manager at Dripbook

Dripbook is a website where creative professionals (photographers, illustrators, makup artsits, stylists, etc.) can create portfolios that are indexed for clients worldwide to view.
Mome-made drug; Krokodil Tears by Emanuele Satolli

Mome-made drug; Krokodil Tears by Emanuele Satolli

The Krokodil is a home-made drug produced with highly toxic chemicals such as iodine, paint thinner, hydrochloric acid and red phosphorus scraped from the strike pads on matchboxes.
Wedding day by Mikhail Ekadomov

Wedding day by Mikhail Ekadomov

The visual code of a wedding in the post-soviet states reflects in general a desire to show some sort of grand scale, some material prosperity.
Apache Palace by Elise Boularan  

Apache Palace by Elise Boularan  

Elise deliberately uses a refined vocabulary and a language without any flourish, for images from the everyday life with a degree of abstraction, which erase all references points.
BKK Series by Riccardo Magherini

BKK Series by Riccardo Magherini

Sometimes that sense of estrangement that catches you when you are far away from home, in a new and unknown place, among people who do not speak your language and signs that you do not understand
Time To Rush Home by David Nam Lip

Time To Rush Home by David Nam Lip

This portfolio is specifically captured an environment with expression of muslim people after they completed the congregation of the Bishwa Ijtema at Tongi, Bangladesh.
Documentary Photography; Small Things by Binh-Dang

Documentary Photography; Small Things by Binh-Dang

There is a house by the sea 120km from Hanoi called Thien Giao. In this house the occupant’s heartbeat beats in unison for one hope, the hope that they will all be able to love and be loved. I visited this house one year ago
Sylvia Rosa Kahl ; Between two worlds

Sylvia Rosa Kahl ; Between two worlds

Sylvia holds a Masters degree in English: she completed a research paper in linguistics at Yale University in the USA where she lived for a year.
Cloud Cover

Cloud Cover

Epic is an overused word these days but if anything is epic the sky is. A few years ago, I started a project photographing clouds mostly from my third floor balcony and sometimes my kitchen windows.
Architectural shoot; Gehry’s Children by Andrew Prokos

Architectural shoot; Gehry’s Children by Andrew Prokos

Andrew’s fine art photographs have been exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York and are included in numerous corporate and private art collections across the USA.
Unidentified landscapes by Michael Busse

Unidentified landscapes by Michael Busse

These are 18 images of an unidentifiable landscape of houses, housing projects, logistic centers, container terminals, expressways and a bit of beach. It’s a landscape of quick money and profitability.
Vignettes of a salesman by Ole Marius Joergensen

Vignettes of a salesman by Ole Marius Joergensen

A lot of traditions are being lost as new technologies are invading our day-to-day world. The door-to-door salesman is a relic from the 50s.

Other Stories

stay in touch
Join our mailing list and we'll keep you up to date with all the latest stories, opportunities, calls and more.
We use Sendinblue as our marketing platform. By Clicking below to submit this form, you acknowledge that the information you provided will be transferred to Sendinblue for processing in accordance with their terms of use
We’d love to
Thank you for subscribing!
Submission
Dodho Magazine accepts submissions from emerging and professional photographers from around the world.
Their projects can be published among the best photographers and be viewed by the best professionals in the industry and thousands of photography enthusiasts. Dodho magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted project. Due to the large number of presentations received daily and the need to treat them with the greatest respect and the time necessary for a correct interpretation our average response time is around 5/10 business days in the case of being accepted.
- Between 10/30 images of your best images, in case your project contains a greater number of images which are part of the same indivisible body of work will also be accepted. You must send the images in jpg format to 1200px and 72dpi and quality 9. (No borders or watermarks)
- A short biography along with your photograph. (It must be written in the third person)
- Title and full text of the project with a minimum length of 300 words. (Texts with lesser number of words will not be accepted)
This is the information you need to start preparing your project for its presentation
To send it, you must compress the folder in .ZIP format and use our Wetransfer channel specially dedicated to the reception of works. Links or projects in PDF format will not be accepted. All presentations are carefully reviewed based on their content and final quality of the project or portfolio. If your work is selected for publication in the online version, it will be communicated to you via email and subsequently it will be published.
Contact
How can we help? Got an idea or something you'd like share? Please use the adjacent form, or contact contact@dodho.com
Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible.
Submission
Dodho Magazine accepts submissions from emerging and professional photographers from around the world.
Their projects can be published among the best photographers and be viewed by the best professionals in the industry and thousands of photography enthusiasts. Dodho magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted project. Due to the large number of presentations received daily and the need to treat them with the greatest respect and the time necessary for a correct interpretation our average response time is around 5/10 business days in the case of being accepted. This is the information you need to start preparing your project for its presentation.
To send it, you must compress the folder in .ZIP format and use our Wetransfer channel specially dedicated to the reception of works. Links or projects in PDF format will not be accepted. All presentations are carefully reviewed based on their content and final quality of the project or portfolio. If your work is selected for publication in the online version, it will be communicated to you via email and subsequently it will be published.
Get in Touch
How can we help? Got an idea or something you'd like share? Please use the adjacent form, or contact contact@dodho.com
Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible.