Beneath the Grid (formerly titled The Challenges of Green Energy) is a conceptual documentary photography project examining the tension between national development and individual rights within the expansion of renewable energy. The series was photographed in 2025 on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, where large-scale photovoltaic power stations have been rapidly constructed across traditional grazing lands.
The project emerged from a long-term relationship with local Tibetan herders. During the pandemic, the artist lived with herding families for over eight months and has returned repeatedly to the region over the following two years. Through conversations with residents, the artist became aware of how the rapid construction of solar infrastructure has reshaped the landscape and the lives of the communities who depend on it.
The series consists of twenty large-format photographs combining ground-based and aerial perspectives. Vast solar arrays stretch across the grasslands, while scenes of livestock grazing beneath the panels and herders continuing their daily routines reveal the coexistence of industrial energy production and traditional pastoral life.
Rather than offering a direct critique, the project adopts an observational approach to reflect on the hidden sacrifices behind the global pursuit of clean energy. By juxtaposing monumental solar infrastructures with fragile human presence, the work invites viewers to reconsider the dominant narrative of sustainability and to question how ecological progress can coexist with social justice.