Beijing-based photographer Shi Guorui is internationally recognized for his large-scale photographs produced with a camera obscura, including projects at the Great Wall of China, the Shanghai riverfront, and K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. The resulting images, some as wide as fifteen feet, emphasize the iconic status of each location and commemorate the human endeavor associated with it. 

During the FOR-SITE residency that preceded his exhibition at the de Young Museum, the artist examined the landscape and history of California. The photographs in the exhibition respond to the de Young’s building, location, and collection. Shi built two camera obscura in the museum’s tower, one looking toward the ocean and one looking toward downtown San Francisco. He also created photograms of objects in the de Young’s collection, excavating the museum as a repository of memory.