Since its invention, photography has been recognised as a powerful way of recording what we see with our eyes. But often, we find that different people have different understandings and reactions to the same photo.

Man Ray (1890-1976) stated: “I paint what cannot be photographed, that which comes from the imagination or from dreams, or from an unconscious drive… I photograph the things that I do not wish to paint, the things which already have an existence.”

From Man Ray’s perspective, painting is more inclined to personal emotional expression, while photography has the importance of realism that cannot be ignored. Therefore, I put forward an idea: if photography and painting are combined, it will enable us to express what we want more clearly from both dimensions - the fact that we see with our eyes and the emotional feedback in our minds. It also provides a good opportunity for individual differences to be revealed.

I invited different types of people connected to RCA to fill out a sketch-based questionnaire that I designed. The questionnaire included two main sketch questions relating to their imagination and ideas while walking past the Darwin Building entrance, followed by a written question to describe their feelings. The project also reveals different people’s feelings about the RCA.

After collecting the sketches, I collaged each one with an entrance photo to produce an archive of people’s impressions of the site while clearly showing their differences. The outcome is a David Hockney-style collage combining all the sketches I collected. While working on this project, these self-expression sketches became a new medium for me, and reviewing them allowed me to understand the significance of this place for different individuals from their unique positions.