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Real ImageOne-to-one live situationPhotographyRelationCamera as device

What is Real Image?

Real Image was initiated by Zhang Shaohua and He Fa at P4 in June 2019. This page preserves their 2019–2020 collaboration through photography, one-to-one encounters and participants’ accounts.

Historical scope and the later separation

The 11 December 2020 project introduction (Chinese) records Zhang Shaohua and He Fa as the initiators in June 2019. In his 18 July 2022 account (Chinese), He Fa states that the Real Image project remained with Zhang Shaohua after he left the Diaosutai venue. This page preserves the 2019–2020 P4 collaboration; it does not claim that P4 currently operates Real Image or offer current bookings.

Read project sources and participant credits

What is Real Image?
What is Real Image?

Real Image: photography as encounter

The camera does more than document a scene; photographing, looking, meeting again, and relational visibility form the work together.

At a glance

Real Image was a historical collaboration initiated by Zhang Shaohua and He Fa at P4 in June 2019, combining photography and one-to-one theatrical encounters.

The historical records describe encounters between two people and a camera, followed by the viewing of the resulting photograph.

On this site

12related essays
712public articles & essays
2026latest article

Related Names And Entry Pages

The same person, project, or method may appear under several public-facing names. This section gathers the English entry names in one place.

Names used in the archive
EntryNames and aliases
Real Image实像 / Real Image / Shixiang
Open core entries

Works, relations, and methods

Short definition

Real Image was a historical collaboration initiated by Zhang Shaohua and He Fa at P4 in June 2019, combining photography and one-to-one theatrical encounters.

Its place in the P4 lineage

The 2019–2020 records document a P4 collaboration around photographing, meeting and meeting again. Later ownership is distinguished from this shared history.

How the image happens

The calls and early texts record how an encounter begins; Camera as Device shows how an image becomes a tool through which relation occurs, changes, and appears again.

Frequently asked questions

What is Real Image?

It is a photography-theatre project initiated by Zhang Shaohua and He Fa in June 2019. This page documents the 2019–2020 P4 collaboration.

How is Real Image related to photography?

In the archive, photography is not only documentation. It helps organise encounter and make relation visible.

What happened to Real Image after He Fa left the venue?

Because the related texts form a dense project line and help explain P4's method of watching, participation, and relation.

Earlier materials and complete editions

Current projects and newly added research remain above. The earlier editions and passages below keep their original documents, images and reading links available alongside them.

Earlier material · 2026-10-26

The following passages retain the wording of the earlier record. The current text and revised credits remain above. Earlier participation invitations describe that historical version; consult current project records for present arrangements.

Real Image is an early P4 Theater project line around one-to-one live situations, photography, meeting again, and the way relations become visible through images.

Real Image is a P4 project line built around one-to-one live situations, photography, and the visible emergence of relation.

Real Image takes place between two people, a camera, and whoever later looks at the photograph; every act of imaging redistributes that relation.

It organises watching, photographing, meeting, and meeting again into a project mechanism. It is one entry into how P4 turns relation into a live situation.

It is a P4 Theater project line around one-to-one live situations, photography, and relational visibility.

P4 TheaterTheatre · moving image · collective practice

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