Longing for home

Longing for Home is a series by, among others, London-based photographer Yan Jialin, originally from China, whose work centres on themes of memory, identity, diaspora, and intimacy. The series explores how personal and collective experiences take shape over time, and how they continue to exist in subtle and often intangible ways. The series was developed in collaboration with a group of creatives, many of whom share a similar background. This shared experience of distance and displacement forms the foundation of the work, creating a collective reflection on what “home” means, and on the emotional distance that comes with living elsewhere. 

While rooted in personal memory, the work extends beyond the individual. Throughout the series, a recurring visual world of everyday elements appears: kites, childhood textile patterns, and decorative window stickers, together evoking a shared sense of memory. These details carry traces of the past and form a visual language that connects different experiences.

The objects often appear in the images more as subtle presences than as direct symbols. To an outsider, they may seem simple or decorative, but they carry layered meanings. The kite, in particular, is a recurring image. Its structure is telling: one end is lifted into the sky, while the other remains held by someone on the ground. That tension resonates with a sense of longing - between holding on and letting go. On the one hand, there is the string that connects to home, family, and memory; on the other, the outward movement, carried by the wind, towards finding one’s own path elsewhere. Within this contrast lies a paradox. If the string breaks, the kite may be able to travel further, but it also loses any possibility of return. When the string remains intact, there is connection, but also a limitation in how far it can go. In that sense, these elements function not only as nostalgic references, but as more abstract carriers of emotion, moving between closeness and distance, freedom and constraint.

In the work, memory is not treated as something fixed. Instead, it appears fragmented and non-linear. Longing is not only tied to a physical place, but also to time. It is not just about missing a home, but about missing a particular moment, or a version of ourselves that once existed.

The series carries an emotional weight and leans more towards a quiet melancholy than light nostalgia. This melancholy is not rooted in painful memories, but in an awareness of time passing and the distance that comes with it.

 

Producer: Wang
Art Director: Lulu Yang
Stylist:Monica Jiang
Makeup:Yilin Du
Hair Artist:Hannah
Model: Peipei Tang
Photography:Jialin Yan
Lighting:Alex Kim

Lighting Assistant: Alfie Lofthouse, Nan
Stylist Assistant: Qinyuan Chen
Production Assistant:Vanessa