Siyi Rui Leah

Siyi 2 Still Image Film

Detached

Experiences those fleeting moments of mental drift—when thoughts wander, eyes lose focus, and we stare at a nonexistent point. In these brief intervals, we are both detached from reality and immersed in ourselves, as if stepping into a transient yet profound dimension of contemplation.

Like when I brew coffee, my gaze unconsciously dissolves, and countless images emerge in my mind. I don’t know what I’m thinking, yet it feels as though I’m thinking about everything. It’s not just spacing out; it’s a form of self-reflection, a delicate balance between reality and the inner world, suspended in the cracks of time.

A single posture, a single glance, is enough to reveal this subtle moment of absent-mindedness. I want to capture this state—the fleeting departure of consciousness, gently tethered to reality—like a goldfish hovering in water, like the wind flowing in silence. Nothing seems to happen, yet something is quietly being spoken.

In this photography project, I invited three models to depict the spaces within their minds—those deeply buried in their consciousness, intensely private, highly individual, and utterly unique inner worlds. I let them guide me to the moments and places where they were most prone to drifting away, using verses, words, and fragmented descriptions to sketch the images hidden deep within their awareness. At the same time, I sought to give form to these invisible spaces through photography, transforming their imagined worlds into visual representations.

Ricky Ni