Photographer takes 10,000 pictures of baby carriers as analogy for mother’s love for her newborn
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Photo taken by Fu Shuxiang shows a woman carrying a baby on her back with a baby carrier. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee) |
Baby carriers, which are a kind of quilt with attached wide straps used by mothers to wrap up and tie their newborn baby to their back, comprise an important part of the costume culture of ethnic groups inhabiting mountainous regions in southwest China.
At the Colorful Guizhou 14th PhotoChina Original International Photography Exhibition held in southwest China’s Guizhou province, Fu Shuxiang, a member of the Chinese photographers Society, showcased a series of photos taken by him featuring different baby carriers.
The baby carriers seen in Fu’s works were mainly rectangular and T-shaped, embroidered with exquisite and auspicious patterns, such as dragons, phoenixes, butterflies, birds and lotus flowers. Inside the baby carriers, the babies were seen sleeping or looking around with their eyes wide open. The photographer said the baby carriers are a precious childhood memory for newborns as they serve as an analogy of their mother’s warmth and love.
During the past 10-odd years, the photographer has taken more than 10,000 pictures of over 300 types of baby carriers in Guizhou. To his surprise, no two baby carriers were identical, with each piece having its unique aesthetic value and conveying the mother’s best wishes for her child.
“When I was a little girl, my mother carried me on her back while doing housework. Now, I often use the same baby carrier given to me as a gift by my mother to put my daughter to sleep,” a visitor named Li Xuemei said. The baby carrier makes the baby feel secure, and binds the mother and child closer together.
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