JTWild Grass

Growing up in a small town in southern China during the strict execution of the one-child policy in the 1980s, JT witnessed the heartbreaking reality of a newborn girl being abandoned due to economic hardships.

In 2014, he encountered some "left-behind children" while travelling, whose resilience and vitality left a deep impression on him. Reflecting on their struggles and the uncertain future they faced, JT couldn't help but wonder about the fate of the abandoned newborn girl from childhood memory.

This experience led the photographer to embark on the "Wild Grass" project, documenting the lives of children in unofficial orphanages across the country. Many of these children suffer from physical and/or mental disabilities, but most of them are not registered in the official system of household, which prevents them from obtaining basic social care and medical support through the social welfare system.

JT’s visits to these orphanages revealed the challenges they face, including funding shortages and a lack of specialized knowledge in caring for disabled children. Despite these obstacles, he lived among the children, seeking to understand their daily lives and provide them with a voice through photography.