I’m a Chinese photographer who enjoys movies, music and venturing into nature. I got into photography about eight years ago, and I’ve been experimenting and learning ever since.

When I got my first film camera, I basically considered taking pictures to be just another hobby. As I mostly use visual memory to remember things, I noticed that photography has a positive influence on me. I found it’s the easiest way to realize all the ideas floating around my mind. Then, I regularly uploaded photos online and more and more people started noticing me.

I never learned about photography from anyone else, but I don’t see photography as a hard thing for me. I guess because I don’t feel the need to follow some of the basic rules, I just do whatever I like. That is why I always experiment with film. I think the positive response from all over the world has been a major help during these years. I can’t say what helped me the most; I think persevering and continuing to experiment is how I keep learning how to turn the images in my head into photographs.

Echoes in the darkness, slow movements, how the winds touch the waves, the shape of the trees after a strong wind, thick clouds in the sky before a storm, magical lights, all the things around me; nature and animals always give me new inspiration. My love for music and paintings inspires me as well.

I think I'm changing every year because I want to try shooting a lot of different subjects. People will find that my work is often focusing on intimacy, wild nature, and, of course, double exposures. I don't limit my interest to fit a specific predetermined style. I think my style relates to sensitivity and serves as a way to express my personal feelings. However, everyone has a different point of view, and how someone perceives my work depends on his/her personality and on his/her own background. I just need to focus on the project that I'm interested in at any given time. The rest is beyond my control.

I don't know much about Chinese photography. I think that talking about his work is not important right now; I just feel sad that he is gone as a human being. But all I know is that our attitude towards photography completely differs from the approach that many others in China take. After he passed away, I spent some time thinking about what I want to do with my own photography. I’ve been doing this for years, but I’m a rather shy person. I have encountered a lot of problems that I seem to be unable to solve, especially here in China. My work is always received more positively abroad.

Yes, light is an important factor to me. It usually brings a stronger sense of emotion to my work and it helps visualize the feelings that I want to communicate. Light can be soft, mysterious or result in unusual reflections and shapes.

I think I focus on intimacy because of my own sensitive personality. I’m interested in how people communicate without words, how their movement conveys a sense of intimacy – how they brush their teeth, take a shower, dry their hair, or move when they’re sleeping. Intimacy may occur in a seemingly insignificant moment. My curiosity about the human body as well as the recognition and interpretation of it, even unconsciously, led me to begin shooting these themes.

People are always attracted by faces, and I am more concerned with the unconscious body language because that conveys more honesty.

My double exposure work is all done in the camera. I compose the entire picture in my head before I take it. Sometimes there are even three or four exposures in a final picture. So I have to carefully think of how I want the result to look like. The skills you need are imagination, determination, and an idea of what you want to achieve.

I develop and scan all my films. I usually select some of my pictures and put them on the wall to get a better understanding of what my recent work has been about. I always enjoy putting pictures together that I find to have some sort of connection. Looking at the pictures to discover common details is like playing hide and seek, similar to searching for a secret key. It’s a maze game for me.

I never plan ahead. I know things are always changing. I just hope my upcoming self-published book will be better than the last one. I’m not satisfied with the work I have done, so I need to keep shooting new works for my next book.