Elizabeth Li's 'Three Gorges' Documents Displacement Along the Yangtze

Photographer and data scientist Elizabeth Li, based in Brooklyn, NY, has released a photo series titled 'Three Gorges' on Lenscratch. The series documents the aftermath of the Three Gorges Dam, which was erected two decades ago, displacing 1.4 million people and submerging entire villages, towns, and cities along the Yangtze River. In summer 2024, Li traveled to the region to find her grandmother's hometown underwater. Over six weeks, she stayed with older residents in near-abandoned villages and spoke with young city-dwellers, capturing stories of dislocation and memory stripped of physicality. Li, a University of Chicago graduate in computer science and sociology, has never taken a photography course or entered a competition; she learned photography through YouTube tutorials and collaboration in a college fashion club. The series includes images such as 'Edge of the Long River,' 'Old Fengdu City,' 'Fairies of Baolong,' and 'Three Gorges Dam.' Li views images and data as parallel forms of inquiry, examining identity formation across the life course. The feature was published on her birthday.