I got my first camera in college. Back then, it was purely a way to release the accumulated emotions and confusions during adolescence, but as I started to shoot people/girlfriends around me, I started to realize that it was something I wanted to continue doing, as I found comfort and peace in photography. It healed my highly-stressed youth and brought me into a much broader world.

I was born in a small town, so art, and especially photography, became the bridge that connected me to another world. I was able to connect to the girls I shot. I realized that we all went through a similar phase – we all felt stressed, lost, confused at times. It brought me comfort and gave me the answer to my own life problems. Also, the series brought me opportunities to go and see a much bigger world.

Some approached me on the Internet, some are my friends and friends of friends. And some are just random strangers that I bumped into on the street.

I see the qualities in the girls that I want to capture, and by putting them in a certain environment, those qualities are able to be exposed in front of the camera. This interaction between me and the model is subtle yet sophisticated. We build connections and they’ll show me what I need. And when they do, there’s no need to carefully construct an image, because all those moments are the ones I want. And throughout the whole time, I try to present what’s in them, to present the authenticity, not to stage or construct anything out of thin air.

It’s true that universally this is how things go. People are changing, especially in the current day and age. What I mean is that I simply observe Chinese girls in a more Chinese context in particular – China may be one of the most rapidly changing countries in the world nowadays. And the girls, their lives are influenced by such societal changes: different fashion trends, pop culture, family traditions versus a more open and freer lifestyle, etc.

I didn’t intend to make it a series of a small group of people. Those girls all have ordinary lives like everyone else, they are no one special. It’s just that they are braver than other girls to live hard and more vividly, and I see a unique beauty in each one of them. They are the most common Chinese girls, the real side of China, yet they are also the pioneers.

I didn’t intentionally take nude photos. It’s more the choice of the girls because I put them in an environment where they feel safe and comfortable, and they will show me their most real self in ways they are comfortable with. So my attitude is that I don’t avoid it, and I don’t advocate it. I just let it happen naturally.

It’s a combination of both vulnerability and toughness, the most amazing and beautiful thing in the world.

She became a friend of mine since I started taking photos of her. My photos recorded her life in the past years: meeting her boyfriend, getting married, getting pregnant, having a baby. I consider her more as a friend, so taking photos for her is a very natural and habitual thing. Whenever we meet to take photos, I know the changes she goes through her life. Her story is as clear as you can see in the photos.

People in China see my photos as an honest record of girls’ lives, simple as they are. Whereas in the West, my works are inevitably interpreted from a political or feminist perspective, neither of which is my intention.

It is definitely a good thing to see more artists being able to make the world see their talents. We are in a time of information explosion, singularity and uniformed patterns no longer reflect the current situation in China, and it no longer suits the need as well. Those artists you mentioned are the pioneers to inspire and to encourage more talents to arise.

Chen Zhe, You Li, Feng Li, Zhang Kechun, and Lin Zhipeng.

There’s no intention of breaking any record here. I didn’t think of it as a thing I must keep or do, it’s just a habit for me. I experience new things, meet new people and, naturally, I want to record them with my camera. So yes, this series will go on and I don’t know how long it will last.