Photography has been a part of China's cultural landscape since the mid-1800s, coinciding with the arrival of European photographers in Macao during that period. Initially, in the 1850s, these photographers established studios primarily in coastal port cities. However, over time, their Chinese apprentices and local competitors expanded their presence across various regions.
By the close of the 19th century, photographic studios had proliferated in all major Chinese cities, offering services to the burgeoning middle-class population for capturing portraits during significant family events. Both Western and Chinese photographers actively documented everyday street scenes, pivotal wartime events, and notable personalities of the era. Photography also gained traction as a hobby among the affluent, with figures such as Empress Dowager Cixi frequently sitting for portraits.
The early 1990s marked a period of remarkable creative resurgence in Chinese photography, which unfortunately waned over the following decade amidst a climate of uncertainty and apprehension. This era was characterized by a profound shift in socio-political dynamics. The optimism fostered by the embrace of capitalist principles and the loosening of restrictions on political and artistic expression during the 1980s abruptly gave way to somber reflections following the tragic events of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989. By 1992, while economic reforms continued unabated, the political liberalization witnessed in the previous decade came to an abrupt halt.
Amidst this tumultuous backdrop, artists found solace in their creative endeavors, using the medium of photography to articulate their emotions and perspectives. Unlike conventional street photography or photojournalism, the prevalent artistic expressions took on a more avant-garde and introspective tone. Notably, within the vibrant community known as the East Village on the outskirts of Beijing, where free-spirited artists congregated. Photographer Rong Rong captured poignant moments of performance art
and co-founded the first Chinese conceptual art photography magazine, New Photo.
In the present day, contemporary photographers primarily draw inspiration from international sources, driven by two key factors. Firstly, their cultural environment strongly incentivizes this approach, and secondly, their educational background has previously hindered a comprehensive understanding of their own photographic heritage, although this trend is gradually shifting. Unlike their predecessors, these modern photographers tend to prioritize aesthetic principles over documentary elements, often aligning themselves closely with the ethos of visual artists.
It appears imperative to delve deeper into the realm of Chinese photography, considering its plurality. Throughout the 20th century, there was a tendency to categorize and encapsulate everything into predefined concepts, imbuing a sense of uniformity. Breaking away from this notion proves challenging, hindering the recognition of its diverse expressions. What does it truly entail to be a Chinese artist in a digitally interconnected world, where camera-equipped devices are ubiquitous and censorship is increasingly difficult to enforce?
While the significance of location remains paramount, the term "Chinese photography" seems to lack tangible meaning and connection to reality. Nevertheless, China does possess its unique characteristics. In the early 2000s, the prevalence of photographs was scarce, but today, numerous young individuals are embracing this medium from an early age. This burgeoning interest is accompanied by a dynamic landscape characterized by rapid changes and bold experimentation, evoking a sense of both excitement and apprehension. It is precisely this element of risk that initially captivates, prompting galleries to actively engage with artists in a continuous process of introspection and daring innovation.
Photography in China faces a significant challenge in terms of institutional backing. Nonetheless, there is a burgeoning array of private initiatives that are just starting to emerge. Huang Yunhe, a gallery proprietor, voices his aspiration to establish a dedicated photography museum in China: "I am keen on championing the concept of a photography museum. Having been involved in gallery ownership for five years, I strongly believe there is still considerable groundwork needed in China to advance photography. While the public craves more exhibitions, the impact of a single gallery is limited. Hence, deeper collaboration with other institutions is imperative." It is these exhibitions that cultivate audiences, heightening awareness of photographic art. Although everyone can capture images with their smartphones, the essence differs. It necessitates an educational initiative for audiences to truly comprehend and appreciate photography. This effort also nurtures emerging talents, facilitates residencies, all of which are long-term endeavors. Overseas locales showcase diverse dynamics. For instance, in Arles, where Bérénice Angrémy showcased Dan Shanzi in 2007, in Paris, London, and beyond. Eli Klein Gallery in New York City also presents exhibitions dedicated solely to Chinese photographers. These exhibitions catalyze underlying movements, with enduring repercussions that contribute to validating Chinese-origin photography. Support from museums or galleries, whether institutional or otherwise, is indispensable.
Here are 10 contemporary photographers featured on All About Photo you should know.
Liu Bolin
Liu Bolin is an artist born in China’s Shandong province in 1973, and he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Shandong College of Arts in 1995 and his Master of Fine Arts from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2001. His work has been exhibited in museums around the world. Also known as "The Invisible Man", Liu Bolin's most popular works are from his "Hiding in the City" series; photographic works that began as performance art in 2005. Liu belongs to the generation that came of age in the early 1990s, when China emerged from the rubble of the Cultural Revolution and was beginning to enjoy rapid economic growth and relative political stability. Since his first solo shows in Beijing in 1998, Liu Bolin’s work has received international recognition.
Better known as The Invisible Man in media circles. He discusses the social concerns of his home country through his artistic practice, most prominently through his ‘camouflage’ installations. Traversing mediums such as performance, photography, Liu Bolin dissects the tense relationship between the individual and society by ‘disappearing’ into environments which are sites of contention and criticism.
His “Hiding in the City” series has been displayed in numerous museums and institutions across the globe. Inspired by his powerful visual messages, artists and institutions and organizations such The Louvre (Paris, France), Harper’s Bazaar Magazine, JR, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Jon Bon Jovi and Kenny Scharf have invited Liu Bolin to collaborate on creative projects.
Mi Zhou
Mi Zhou was born in 1962 in China, studied Civil Engineering in college. Following graduation, worked for 13 years as a field engineer for Chinese National Railroad Survey and Design Institute. In 1997, obtained Master degree in Communication Arts from New York Institute of Technology. From 1997 to 2004, worked as art director at Y&R /K&L advertising Inc., New York. Since 2004, resides in San Francisco, USA, working as freelance photographer, mainly focusing on personal projects, and working with non-profit organizations on social documentary.
Liu Zheng
Liu Zheng was born in 1969 in the Hebei Province, China. His signature graytone photographs have for years starkly framed, in political and provocative situations, his human subjects. When he works in colour, the tones are awash in sepia or a doctored saturation that comments on the nostalgic nature of his topics – his Peking Opera series in particular reflects this.
Liu's background is not rooted in arts . After majoring in optical engineering at the Beijing Institute of Technology, he joined a local paper as a photojournalist, where he covered the coal mining industry. This laid the foundation for his interest in the lives of the countrymen that toil endlessly; one of his first series as an artistic practitioner explored the lives of ethnic minorities and our perception of them. He continues to eke out of the histories and stories of his subjects and topics in photography, and has published several volumes of his series.
Liu Zheng's work has been exhibited in solo shows including Dream Shock, Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing, China (2013); Dream Shock, Zen Foto Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2009); Liu Zheng: The Chinese, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA (2008); Liu Zheng: Survians, SOHO New Town, Beijing, China (2005); Liu Zheng: The Chinese, Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, NY (2005); Liu Zheng, Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, France (2003); The Chinese, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China (2001); and Three Realms and The Chinese, Taipei Photo Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan (1998).
His works have also featured in group shows including the Minsheng Art Museum in Shanghai, China; Smart Museum of Art in Chicago, IL; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, LA; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; Asia Society and Museum, New York, NY; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; and Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China.
He has also participated in the 50th Biennale di Venezia in Venice, Italy and the International Center of Photography Triennale, New York. His work is in the collections of the Guy and Miriam Ullens Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Uli Sigg Collection, Mauensee, Switzerland; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA.
He currently lives and works in Beijing, China.
Qingjun Huang
A freelancer artist, photographer. He was born in 1971 in China. He has been engaged in photographic art creation for 30 years, currently lives and works in Peoria, IL USA. Qingjun's representative work is series from 2003 and it is still on-going. The series has reached 150 works till 2023. Robert Frank reviewed Qingjun’s works in 2012 and evaluated “ Your work is an open window to look at China. 'Family Stuff' contains the main series and some sub-series includes 'Online Shopping Family Stuff', 'Homeless People’s Family Stuff', 'China Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor’s Belongings', 'The Stuffs of Live Streamers', and 'Family Stuff USA'. BBC interviewed Qingjun four times, Various international media, such as New York Times, Bloomberg, Harvard Business Review and Wired, have also covered his works. His works have also been published widely on paper media, online media, photo books such as National Geographic, Architecture Boston, Business Insider, GEO, Chinese National Geography, Discovery Cultural Geographic Monthly, Guardian Weekend, China Daily, Chinese Photography Magazine, Grazia France, Dutch Weekly Magazine, Vrij Nederland, Dutch Financial Daily, Family Photography Now etc. Some of his works appeared in textbooks published by Oxford University Press, and National Geographic learning.
Chen Jiagang
Born in 1962 in Chong Qing, Chen Jiagang began his career as a celebrated architect and real estate developer before making the transition to photography. In 1999, he was named one of twelve "Outstanding Young Architects" by the United Nations. Jiagang is the founder of the Sichuan Upriver Museum, the first private museum in China and the author of Third Front (Timezone 8 Limited, 2007). He currently lives and works in Beijing.
Although originally trained as an architect (and awarded by the UN the accolade of being one of the 12 ‘outstanding young architects' in China), Chen Jiagang has been a practicing photographer for over 12 years, and has exhibited widely since 1999. He has twice been awarded the Excellent Works Award at the annual China Photographic Arts Exhibitions. Chen photographs often feature obsolete and useless factories, hidden away in his country's hinterlands. Among these monumental, abandoned ruins, these industrial leftovers, he places ghostly human figures, reminding us of the workers who lost their jobs and were sent back home to start again. He documents the effects on society of China's extraordinary development drive in these large, sumptuous compositions.
Zhang Jingna
Born in Beijing and raised in Singapore, Jingna Zhang is a fine art photographer and art director in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites and anime, Jingna’s work interweaves Asian aesthetics with western art styles, bringing unique visions of painterly images to fashion and fine art photography.
Jingna’s works have appeared on Vogue China, Vogue Japan, Harper’s Bazaar China, and Elle Singapore. She has exhibited with PhotoVogue at Leica Gallery Milan, Cle de Peau Beaute in Hong Kong, and Profoto at Tsinghua University. Her clients include brands like Mercedes Benz, Lancome, Canon, and Team Liquid. She has been a speaker and mentor at Square Enix Japan, Trojan Horse is a Unicorn, School of Visual Arts, Laguna College of Art and Design, and Monterrey Institute of Technology.
Prior to her work behind the camera, Jingna was a national athlete on Team Singapore, and founder of an esports team in StarCraft 2. She was an agent for concept artists and illustrators, with clients such as LucasArts, Amazon Publishing, and Sony Music Japan.
Jingna was named on Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 list for Art & Style in 2018. She is an alumna of Stanford Ignite.
Jingna is currently working on Cara, a social network and artist platform that filters AI-generated media for the entertainment industry. Her ongoing projects include a course on artistic portrait photography, Motherland Chronicles, and an upcoming photobook inspired by anime and manga.
Haikun Liang
Liang Haikun has been engaged in photography for 22 years and is a national second level photographer in China; The work has won 185 awards in various well-known international photography competitions, has been exhibited nearly 1600 times, and has been exhibited over 300 times worldwide. Some of the works have been published in well-known magazines and official websites around the world, including the famous British magazine Breath, the authoritative South Asian photography magazine Better Photography, Sony Photography World's official website, and the Royal Society of Photography's official website
Shuwei Liu
Shuwei Liu (b.1985) was born in Tangshan and currently lives in Shanghai, China.
He received his Bachelor of Engineering in Guangdong University of Technology in 2009, then he decided to do what he really love such as photography, design and writing.
He's a finalist of LensCulture Portrait Awards 2016. His works got exhibited internationally include Power Station of Art, the State Hermitage Museum, Artefiera Bologna, JIMEI × ARLES Photo Festival Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Vu Photo. He was an residency artist in Vermont Studio Center, Red Gate residency and granted by them, and was awarded Fine Art "First Place" by PDN, and he was a finalist of LensCulture Portrait Awards, Three Shadows Photography Awards, Barcelona International Photography Awards, British Journal of Photography, described as "Ones to Watch" talents and Photovogue Festival.
Yang Yongliang
Born in 1980 in Shanghai, Yang Yongliang graduated from China Academy of Art in 1999, majored in visual communication. He currently works and lives in Shanghai.
He started his experiments with contemporary art in 2005, and his practice involved varied media including photography, painting, video and installation. Yang exploits a connection between traditional art and the contemporary, implementing ancient oriental aesthetics and literati beliefs with modern language and digital techniques. His work as an expanding meta-narrative that draws from history, myth and social culture, and plays out in the context of the city and its ever-changing landscapes.
He started to learn traditional Chinese art and culture since childhood, the influence of which is seen in the form of his art: a sense of traditional aesthetics can be clearly perceived. In terms of media and content, however, it is brimming with a strong sense of post-modernism.
Yang’s work has been exhibited at Moscow Biennale, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art and National Gallery of Victoria among others and is collected by public institutes such as the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.