Little Things Mean a Lot
By Sirui MaDescribing herself as a “professional noticer,” Sirui Ma is a London-based photographer whose practice explores the beauty of the mundane. Born in Beijing and subsequently raised in London and New York, Ma’s images gently probe her experiences of living in the West through a multicultural lens, broaching topics of presence and community.
Captured over the course of a year, Ma’s series Little Things Mean a Lot is a self-portrait through the women around her. Holding up a mirror to daily life and the quiet beauty that lurks around the city, the series offers an introspective look into the experiences of a group of Asian women navigating life in London. The photographer expands below.
I’m always noticing beautiful, weird, or funny moments in everyday life — through my interactions with strangers or simply by looking around me and seeing attentively. My friends can attest to this. I feel like I’ve made it my job to share these moments with others through my work.
I wanted to create a body of work that communicated how I perceive and experience the world through my relationships with people and my surroundings. I kept the concept quite loose until I felt like the shooting was complete, then I sat with all the images I liked and looked at what images fit best together.
To me, you can always tell how comfortable and at ease sitters are from the images of them. I try to always build a rapport, a relationship, with my sitters, even if just for the day. I want to know them and therefore be able to represent them in my work. A lot of my subjects throughout my work are my friends or people in my life. It’s important for me to depict real people and real relationships.
Connecting with nature is a big part of my life, and I definitely wanted that to reflect in this work. Even in my friendships, nature plays a role — being in nature, learning about it, enjoying its abundance through foraging. I wanted to share this in my work.
Photography can be a powerful means of connection between people. For me, it can be a tool to help bridge gaps and bring people together. To be seen by another in the way you feel is true to you can be really empowering, and I think that’s a way in which I have personally connected to other people I’ve met with shared experiences.
Little Things Mean a Lot by Sirui Ma was shown by Hackney Gallery in London in June 2024.
Photography by Sirui Ma