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Visual Index 01 / Shanghai

The Observer

At an exhibition, a new camera changed hands—and the observer stepped inside the frame.

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Alicia Dai walking through a Shanghai art exhibition
Shanghai / Personal archive / 2025—2026
01Alicia Dai Visual IndexShanghai

At an exhibition, a new camera changed hands—and the observer stepped inside the frame.

At a Shanghai exhibition, Alicia handed a new camera to her child. It had been chosen ahead of summer travel: fast enough for movement, animals, and unplanned portraits. Here, among the installations, its first lesson was simpler—attention changes when the camera changes hands.

Alicia treats visual literacy as something practiced together. Exhibition rooms, photography, and city walks do not sit apart from ordinary life; they sharpen it. In this frame, the person accustomed to looking becomes the subject of another person’s point of view.

Looking closely is a way of participating.
From Alicia Dai's personal archiveEdited from creator-authored notes
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