Although it merely started out as a personal project trying to capture the women she came across in her life, this decade-long project quickly became about much more: a portrait of a female subculture, a new wave of individuality among women in contemporary China. Over the years, she has photographed young women in their personal spheres with her snapshot aesthetic and in raw, honest spaces – their houses, the terraces of high buildings, or even on the streets. At first glance, her portraits appear vulnerable and intimate but are soon confronted with a contrast in either the expression of contradicting emotions or bizarre sceneries.

The striking female faces possess a delicate line between the bold and the fragile; as she herself describes it, “What we [the girls and I] have in common are a fragility and braveness inside of us; we face the world with our sincerity.” With Girls, she reflects a shifting mindset in contemporary China, questioning the expectations of both their femininity and identity.