New exhibition charts the continuity and evolution of Suzhou

The exhibition reflects this long view. Some images preserve the city's historical character, while others turn toward a changing present, capturing industrial growth, shifting urban-rural ties, and the evolving texture of ordinary life.

Rather than presenting a linear narrative of progress, the photographs dwell on continuity. Gong has devoted years to community-based photography, working among residents and documenting lives often overlooked, underscoring his belief in the medium as both record and human exchange.

He describes the exhibition not as a conclusion, but as a point of departure, a reminder that the image of a city, like the city itself, is always in the process of evolution.