THE BLACK PEARL OF BEIJING


In a moment of suspended time, an ancient capital is stripped down to its deepest anxieties, and to a phantom pearl that may or may not exist.
“The Black Pearl of Beijing” (2019–2022) is a photography series shaped as an urban myth. Shot in Beijing during a period of lockdowns and collective unease, it focuses on the city’s textures, spaces, and fleeting human presence. When daily life was suspended and the future felt uncertain, mythology resurfaced as a way to explain the inexplicable. This project traces the elusive black pearl — a McGuffin that never existed, hovering between reality and myth, linking an ancient city to the modern metropolis, a memory to a dream.
a photography series, self-published zine
shot between 2020-2022
edition of 60, 148x210mm, 49 pages
20 images, 16x9/9x16
VITALIY GERASYMENKO
THE LEGEND OF THE BLACK PEARL

A long time ago, on the banks of the Wuding River, which was later renamed Yongding by the emperor Kangxi, there lived an old and melancholic dragon. This proud creature was sad and lonely, and when it cried, its tears would become the most beautiful pearls.One night, the dragon saw a moon eclipse and its reflection in the river. Moved by such a beautiful sight, unparalleled by anything it had ever seen, the dragon wept for the last time. A large tear became a glowing black pearl, and as it dropped into the Wuding River, the dragon disappeared, never to return again. Time passed, and all dragons went extinct, but the people who lived around the Wuding River kept finding pearls. Only the infamous black pearl was never recovered, lost temporarily in the rivers and channels of the city that later became known as Beijing.







the black pearl of beijing / 北京黑珍珠
paperback zine, edition of 60. 
148 × 210 mm, 49 pages.

designed by Ira Zimenko.
with support from standingwaveproject.
curated by Zhang Jiajing.

available at zbirka bookshop (Kyiv, Ukraine).
presented at Kyiv Art Book Fair, MYPH Photo Festival etc.












© 2026