Half of love is still Love is the first published monograph from photographer Long Xi Vlessing and the debut title from healing time, an imprint by Hard Liver. The fruit of Vlessing's return to his family village in Fujian traces grief, intimacy and love through fragile portraits of the people and landscapes around him. Amidst the grave illness and passing of a patriarch, Vlessing introduces an emerging cast of soap characters occupying the space of contemporary Chinese life: Blue Mother, Blue Neighbour, The Blower, The Bodybuilder. Shifting between mountain country and the urban seaside, these images hold life and death in close proximity, acting as a conduit for Love's jumbled excess.  Adhering to a set of strict technical rules over months, Vlessing photographed analogue and sans tripod, balancing his camera on shelves, boxes, low walls, beds, eaves and edges to evoke the perspective of domestic objects. The resulting images situate us squarely within the artist’s mounting world of visual storytelling, one where both family and strangers stand as equals before the camera as abrupt subjects in revelatory moments, where private life evolves organically into creative catalysts, and the eye wanders to find meaning in the quotidian: ordinary moments serve as symbols of transformation, grief, humour and shared humanity. Published by healing time