In 2018, Taiwanese photographer Pi Cheng Hsiu came across a relic from his childhood: a playground slide shaped like an elephant, its trunk unfurled obligingly to the ground. “In the past, almost every primary school in Taiwan had one,” he says, “but they’re disappearing: they don’t meet today’s [safety] standards.” Enchanted by the colourful structures, many of them imaginatively decorated by local artists, Pi set about shooting the 400 or so that remain, pinning their locations to an online map. “The ones from my old school are gone, so I wanted to make a record of the ones that are left.”
Killian Fox
Main image: One of the 400 or so elephant slides remaining around Taiwan. All images courtesy of Pi Cheng Hsiu. Photograph: Pi Cheng Hsiu
Sat 2 Sep 2023 12.00 EDT Last modified on Mon 4 Sep 2023 12.11 EDT
