Image from the Beijing Silvermine project, an archive of nearly one million negatives salvaged over the past 14 years from a recycling plant in Beijing.

Since 2009, French collector and artist Thomas Sauvin has rescued discarded negatives that were destined for destruction. His Beijing Silvermine archive, one of the largest archival projects in China, now comprises more than 850,000 anonymous photographs dating from 1985 to 2005. The project offers a unique reconstruction of everyday analogue photography in China, creating a visual platform for cross-cultural exchange while reshaping our collective memory of the recent past.

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