“They are neither my pets nor my friends. We coexist, accommodating each other in our shared space.”
Between 2020 and 2024, I lived with nearly 40 white mice in my room, and as I moved from one space to another, they moved with me as a group. During this period, I observed their development of social structures, hierarchies, and even their reproduction, which made me feel as if I was witnessing a miniature human society. Perhaps humans are no different. I rescued them from the reptile feeder section, as if they were prisoners at the bottom tier of some establishment. But how is the value of life defined? And what differentiates one life from another?
White mice share 98% of their genes with humans, yet their lives are completely dependent on us. Why is their fleeting fate so brutally real and absolute, confined to a life in labs or becoming food for reptiles?
Through raising 40 mice over four years and continuously photographing them, I documented their pure, speechless, and unidentifiable existence. In a species that has been homogenized and assigned a fate of inevitable sacrifice, I sought to distinguish each individual’s uniqueness by living with them. Behind the camera, I could see the individuality and resilience in them—beings that others would see as mere clones.