Artwork, Concept, and Design: Nyo Jinyong Lian
First Edition: Spring 2025
Print Run: 100 copies
Printed and bound in China
Binding Type: Exposed Smyth-sewn binding with hollow spine
Dimensions: 21.25 × 27.5 cm
Pages: 80
“Staging trust, revealing hidden worlds.”
Trust Me unfolds a series of semi-fictional portraits of Asian women, exploring self-doubt, psychological fragility, and the complex negotiations of identity and agency. The project asserts subjectivity while inviting readers into a broader dialogue on how we perceive and relate to others.
The book disrupts traditional reading, using gatefold pages to create a dynamic, interactive experience. Each foldout reveals a dual reality: a linear narrative alongside a hidden, compressed space—concealed until the reader engages physically.
This tension between visibility and obscurity mirrors the psychological themes of the work, emphasizing the layered, fragmented nature of identity. Readers actively unfold the images, becoming participants in the act of discovery.
Trust Me transforms the book into a site of exploration, where images lie in waiting like uncharted coordinates. By requiring engagement, it challenges fixed narratives and encourages a fluid, participatory approach to storytelling.
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This book would not exist as it does without the generosity, honest critique, and unwavering support of my closest friends and family, who patiently stood by me through countless moments of uncertainty. I am especially grateful to Jiaqi Song—her thoughtful advice on image editing, design decisions, and the book’s overall pacing became both the backbone and the soul of this work. May these pages wander freely and gently unfold into the unseen creases of the heart.
︎︎︎Shortlisted for the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation Self-Published Photobook Award.
︎︎︎Shortlisted for the PhMuseum 2025 Photobook Award.