Current location:Culture Channel news portal > health
In China, a factory is turning old wedding photographs into fuel
Culture Channel news portal2024-05-21 09:15:08【health】8People have gathered around
IntroductionBy Matthew WalshAt a dusty warehouse in northern China, Liu Wei feeds photos of beaming bridal coupl
By Matthew Walsh
At a dusty warehouse in northern China, Liu Wei feeds photos of beaming bridal couples into an industrial shredder — turning stories of heartbreak into a source of electricity.
Wedding photos are big business in China, where parks, temples and historic sites often teem with newlyweds posing for elaborate shots capturing their supposedly unbreakable bond.
They include large wall photos and smaller decorative shots and albums, mostly cast from plastic, acrylic and glass.
Subscribe to HKFP's twice-weekly newsletter for a concise round-up of local news and our best coverage. Unsubscribe at any time - we will not pass on your data to third parties.
Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.Workers heave the images onto a forklift truck and scatter them onto the warehouse floor for sorting.
They then obscure every face with dark spray paint to protect client privacy and smash unshreddable glasswork with a sledgehammer.
“These people are all trying to find closure,” said Liu. “They mainly want to unpick the knots in their hearts.”
Complex motivations
Sullied and broken, the pictures give glimpses of broken families in happier times.
In one, a woman in a white bridal dress reclines on a bed of flowers, while another shows a lovestruck couple gazing into each other’s eyes.
A sporty pair in matching kits pose with a football, while nearby, a smitten man presses his face tenderly to his pregnant wife’s belly.
Brandishing his phone, Liu films the defaced photos and sends clips to customers for final confirmation.
He estimates he has served about 1,100 clients — mostly under the age of 45, and around two-thirds women — since launching the service a year ago.
They typically speak little about their separations, and several declined interview requests from AFP.
Liu says the motivations for destroying wedding photos are often complex.
“Few of them do this out of malice,” he told AFP.
“It might be that this item brings on certain thoughts or feelings… or be a hurdle hard to overcome.”
Some clients attend the destructions in person to give a sense of ceremony to a closing chapter in their lives, said Liu.
Others keep their photos for years and only dispose of them when they remarry or finally come to terms with a former spouse’s death.
Given the irreversible nature of the process, Liu says he gives clients a final chance to salvage their items in case they live to regret their decision.
After getting the green light, he films his staff gently pushing the photos into the shredder’s gnashing teeth.
The debris is taken to a nearby biofuel plant where it is processed with other household waste to generate electricity.
‘Respect others’ choices’
Divorce rates soared in socially conservative China after marriage laws were relaxed in 2003.
They have fallen dramatically since the government enacted a law in 2021 mandating a month-long “cooling-off” period before couples untie the knot.
China registered 2.9 million divorces in 2022, down from over 4.3 million two years earlier.
The number of marriages rose last year for the first time in nearly a decade, giving Beijing some relief as it seeks to reverse a steep fall in births.
After annihilating the visual evidence of hundreds of unions, Liu says he has become numb to the emotions they stir up.
“The deepest feeling I have in my heart towards my clients… is that you must respect others’ choices,” he said.
“You must never persuade people one way or another,” he added. “It does no good.”
Address of this article:http://afghanistan.arnoldview.org/html-92e999820.html
Very good!(512)
Related articles
- OpenAI pauses ChatGPT voice after Scarlett Johansson comparisons
- Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester gets into character as she joins co
- Sydney shopping mall reopens after stabbings. Police make first arrest in riot after church attack
- Chinese vice premier stresses timely delivery of homes to buyers
- Jessica Biel CHOPS her long locks into a bob after book signing in Studio City
- Klay Thompson wants do decompress from season before delving into what's next as a free agent
- Who came up with that? The designers behind these baffling fails should definitely get the sack
- Dancing With The Stars pro Cheryl Burke CONFIRMS showmances with THREE of her celebrity partners
- The government wants to buy their flood
- Gen Zs' latest obsession of 'anti
Popular articles
- Amir Khan's £11.5m luxury wedding venue finally hosts its first marriage: Bride arrives on horse
- Holistic pursuit of national security lays solid groundwork for China's rejuvenation cause
- Alabama Barker, 18, shares racy bikini
- Hong Kong arrests 291 for endangering national security in past 4 years — Radio Free Asia
Recommended
The unstoppable duo of Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos
Dodgers legend Carl Erskine dies at 97... the last surviving member of Brooklyn's 'Boys Of Summer'
South Carolina making progress to get more women in General Assembly and leadership roles
Gisele Bundchen shows off her figure in a tied
French sports minister calls for sanctions after Monaco player tapes over anti
Judge hits the tiebreaking single in 9th as Yankees rally to avoid sweep with 6
Bruno Tonioli, 68, reveals he needs Botox after feeling 'wrinkly' next to Britain's Got Talent co
Lawmakers vote down bill that would allow some Alabama death row inmates to be resentenced
Links
- Dunkin' Donuts employee reveals the biggest pet peeves she has against drive
- Chris Hemsworth is 'handpicked' by Vogue editor Anna Wintour to co
- Mystery as California firefighters find two dead bodies inside 'human
- Gerard Butler appears in high spirits as he watches Chelsea FC thrash West Ham 5
- REVEALED: The jaw
- Woods Richardson allows 1 hit in 6 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts as Twins beat Mariners 3
- Australian boy killed by police was in deradicalization program since causing school explosion
- Jeannie Epper, 'Wonder Woman' stuntwoman, dies at 83
- Teyana Taylor strips down during VERY raunchy burlesque show at NY's Paradise Club in front of star
- Aaron Taylor