Towards the end of 2011 I reviewed the portfolio of a photographer* who suggested I might like the work and personality of a young woman who had assisted him, and I was happy to be formally introduced to Jennifer Osborne. I had heard Jen speak about her work in the summer of 2010 at Aperture as part of the program around the publication of the book 'reGeneration: tomorrow's photographers today'; I was moved by her series 'Tough Blood' about the mentally ill, suicide-prone residents of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. However, I chose this project, Net Generation, which she photographed in July 2009, to kick off the new year.

It has been suggested that in China more than 10% of the country's 100 million teenage web surfers fall prey to excessive gaming and online activity. Jennifer Osborne visited Doctor Tao Ran's recovery program for Internet addicts, established in 2004. The young people Jen photographed are in summer video game rehab at the Beijing Region Military Hospital.

View the full screen magazine photo feature.

The series was originally produced with the support of COLORS Magazine.

*Carlo Hindian