Barcelona & My Mother

• Photographer
  Melanie Sun

Photographed in our home in Spain, this series captures my mother wearing modern qipao dresses—a symbol of memory, tradition, and our Chinese heritage. The intimate setting of a European home creates a quiet contrast, where the qipao exists slightly out of place, yet deeply rooted in meaning. Alongside these images are portraits of my mother in her everyday clothes from the early 2000s. Together, they form a layered portrait — one that traces the continuity of self through time and memory. Through these images, fashion becomes an emotional thread, where style becomes a quiet act of belonging.

I’m a Spanish-born Chinese photographer, raised in Barcelona with Chinese roots. Caught between two cultures, I turned to photography to navigate questions of identity and belonging. It became my language — a space where memory and heritage converge. Through the lens, I explore the in-between: the quiet tension and beauty of a hybrid self.