He photographed her countless times but never recognized her - the stranger who had been hiding in his photos for three years.
Photographer Lin Sheng received a commercial endorsement shoot, and the spokesperson was the big star Shen Nian.
To him, this was just an ordinary collaboration. He knew Shen Nian - the actress who had acted in a few movies and had shot a few magazine covers, that's all.
But Shen Nian knew him differently.
She remembered the three o'clock in the morning when she first saw his photo, the way he made framing gestures at the party, and the light shining on the side of his face in the abandoned factory. She saved a photo of an alley he took three years ago, sent a "thank you" to his studio email, and replaced the shampoo he had smelled once.
And he knew nothing.
On the day of the shooting, they stood under the same light, separated by a distance from the camera. She asked: "Next time we meet, will you remember me?" He said: "Remember to take pictures of you."
There was so much she wanted to say. The party three years ago, the back view in the factory, and the photo that has been saved again and again. But in the end she only said: "In that factory on the East Fourth Ring Road, I wasn't reading my lines that day."
Then he turned around and left.
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This is a story about "remembering".
Shen Nian remembered Lin Sheng, but Lin Sheng only remembered "Shen Nian". One word difference makes a world of difference.
She asked: "Next time I see you, will you remember me?"
He replied: "I remember taking pictures of you."
——What she wanted was never to be remembered by a "photographer", but by a "Lin Sheng".
Unfortunately, he didn't know.
Concept: The asymmetry of memory is the most tender cruelty in relationships.