2024-04-12 18:44:14
Huge grinding machine destroys photos of Chinese shooters to generate electricity
Inside a dusty warehouse in China, a worker inserts into an industrial shredder machine photos of divorced people dating back to the happy first stages of love, not only to help them turn the page on a stage in their lives that preceded the “electrification” of the marital relationship, but also… to produce electricity.
According to Agence France-Presse, wedding photos are a serious matter in China, and couples spend large sums of money to get elaborate shots, taken in parks, historic streets, or temples, to make them an indicator of supposedly eternal bonds.
But in a country where millions of divorces are recorded annually, these marital photos become packed away or end up in the trash.
The process of damage is intended to start over (AFP)
Low Wei Company, which specializes in demolition, offers an alternative solution: destroying these photographic memories. Its owner (42 years old) at the factory located in Langfang, regarding 120 kilometers from Beijing, says: “We have discovered that destroying personal property is a specialty that no one has noticed.”
Although disposing of photographs of living people is still prohibited in China, Liu Wei’s factory receives on average between 5 and 10 orders per day from different parts of the country. He destroys couple shots, from large framed photos to small albums, all products made mostly of plastic, acrylic and glass.
The photos are destroyed by decision of their owners (AFP)
Inside the warehouse, workers hide customers’ faces with black paint to respect their privacy, then smash the glass using a hammer. “They are all trying to get through this stage of their lives,” Liu Wei says.
In one shot, a woman in a white wedding dress is shown lying on a bed of flowers, while another shows a couple gazing tenderly into each other’s eyes. One photo shows a couple wearing identical football shirts and holding a ball in their hands, while another photo shows a man with his pregnant wife, tenderly placing his face on her stomach.
Since its launch a year ago, the company has provided its services to regarding 1,100 customers, most of whom are not more than 45 years old, and two-thirds of whom are women. Clients prefer to keep this move a secret, and their motivations for forgoing wedding photos are often complex.
“Few people resort to this step for malicious reasons,” Liu Wei continues. He confirms that “they use this service because their wedding photos arouse negative thoughts or feelings in them, or constitute an obstacle to them overcoming their sadness.”
Some customers travel long distances to witness the destruction of photos, in a move that heralds the end of a stage in their lives. Since destroying it is a final and irreversible step, Liu Wei communicates with customers before starting the destruction process, to give them a last chance to recover it if they reconsider their decision.
After getting the green light, he films his colleagues with his mobile phone as they gently push the pictures into the huge milling machine. What the machine crushes is then transported to a factory, where it is processed with other household waste to produce electricity.
Faces are painted before damage (AFP)
The divorce rate in China rose following the laws related to marriage were relaxed in 2003, but these cases have declined slightly since the authorities in 2021 set a mandatory and controversial “reflection period” of one month following filing the application.
China recorded 2.9 million divorces in 2022, while this rate reached 4.3 million in 2020. As for marriages, they witnessed an increase last year for the first time in regarding 10 years.
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