As part of his project Things Here Change (2020-ongoing), Lex Chen (1992) photographed the houses and surroundings of a working class neighbourhood in Enschede shortly before its demolition. Until this event, Chen had lived there himself for three years and wanted to record what would be lost. “It is a way of holding on to a familiar environment, a home, while you are forced to let it go,” the artist explains.
However, he is not just interested in securing his own memories. He also wants to immortalize the atmosphere of these characteristic ‘stamp neighbourhoods’ (with housing blocks that, when seen from above, appear to have been reproduced using a stamp) that were rapidly constructed after the Second World War. This led to a visual archive containing hundreds of photographs. Chen photographed the housing blocks, stairwells, cats, bushes, and trees in the neighbourhood, as well as the interiors of various residents. While not depicted themselves, these photographs are portraits of the inhabitants, as it were.
Working with analogue photography is vital to Chen. In order to strengthen his connection to each of his projects, he always searches for a form and technique to match it. In this case he opted for instant film photography — similar to the Polaroid process — which allows him to immediately produce a unique physical image. By prizing off the white frame and removing the back of the ‘Polaroid’, the production number becomes visible, thereby reaffirming the shot’s uniqueness. At the same time this number helps him to organize his work, like an archive filing system.
Text: Esther Darley
Translation from Dutch to English: Marie Louise Schoondergang