WORDS
The first photo I took was of the word “PLEASURE”—a sign outside a sex shop in Miami. At the time, I wasn’t searching for deeper meaning; I simply wanted to capture the word itself, drawn to the personal resonance it held for me. I printed it and hung it in my house. Soon after, I began noticing more words with strong connotations. This awareness evolved into a growing collection, now exceeding 40 images, with many more waiting to be captured. Over time, I realized that some of the signs and walls I had photographed no longer existed—facades had been renewed, repurposed, or destroyed.
Language is embedded in the architecture of our cities, shaping our perception of space and the emotions it evokes. In this series, I explore fragmented messages within the urban environment. These remnants—isolated from their commercial or functional purpose—become a documentation of ephemeral urban landscapes, bridging architectural memory and digital preservation. This is an ongoing project, one that may never truly end for me. As I continue to encounter new and old signs that provoke thought or emotion, I will deconstruct and capture them. By documenting these words in their existing environments, the series reflects on how language interacts with urban space, raising questions about how we absorb meaning from the signs around us.Through color, composition, and minimalism, this series encourages quiet contemplation of the words we often overlook, transforming them from mundane signage into symbols of deeper cultural and emotional narratives.
Recent Portfolios
WORDS
XU
UM
