Reasons to Leave by Oliver Zhai

Reasons to Leave (2023) is presented by Doc Now 2023

This exhibition contains a photography series of full-body portraits and a series of video interviews with different Chinese international students.

As a Chinese international student, Oliver has always wanted to do a project about the international student community. This project, entitled, Reasons to Leave, documents and reveals the motivations behind Chinese international students' reasons for leaving home to seek their education elsewhere. The act of leaving is often deeply connected to the social, cultural, and sometimes personal aspects of their lives.

By documenting and revealing Chinese international students' initial reasons and motivations for leaving, the project also indirectly touches on the sociocultural aspects of their life in China. The Chinese international students he focuses on in this project were born in the 1990s. The participants are all similar in age and have experienced post-secondary education in Toronto, Canada. The initial idea of doing this project comes from his own lived experiences, as he has heard many stories from his Chinese friends along their journey and have experienced both the Western and Chinese ways of life.

Oliver received a lot of support and encouragement when he first shared this idea with the international students around him. The participants firmly believe that society needs to better understand their perspective. The validation and support from the participants eventually encouraged him to confirm this idea.