人有悲歡离合，
月有阴晴圓缺。
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / CREATIVE DIRECTOR Zixin Chen FEATURES EDITOR Zixin Chen, Bingyuan Tao DESIGNER Zixin Chen, Weiqi Lyu, XINSON PHOTOGRAPHER Yifan Chen, Chen Wei, Zhou Yuwei, RAN, Chu Wang, Du Chen, Shi qi MODEL Nina, Chen Wei, Qiao Muwang, Ye Xin WRITER Bingyuan Tao SPECIAL THANKS TO Stephan Rabimov, Maghan Mcdowell, Sarah Birdwell COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Chen Wei, Zhou Yuwei COVER DESIGN Zixin Chen, Weiqi Lyu
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Contri butors
Bingyuan Tao Zhou Yuwei Chen Wei Chu Wang Du Chen XINSON Shiqi
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Editor’s Letter I was born and raised in China. We might have different nationalities, but we have something in common: Growing-up with the development of the Internet. When I was in the high school and college, I was crazy about social media— however, not with Facebook or Instagram, but with Weibo and Ren Ren. During that time, I craved to be chic, stylish and special. Then I found that there were so many Chinese youths doing the same thing. They were active on social media, and they shared fresh art and music pieces by foreign artists. I felt tired while browsing their Weibo accounts because they were all the same, with the same foreign internet celebrities’ styles. They wanted to do what Korean, Japanese or American kids was doing, and in some way, they were full of envy. So did I. I have to admit. I was not proud of my own country’s culture. I was wrong. There are many talented designers, artists and they are doing something fabulous in China. So I started this magazine to highlight those brilliant Chinese artists. Now, I’m gonna give a kaleidoscope to you and please make yourself comfortable. The phases of Chinese youths are not unlike those of the moon. Hence, the name, Moon Phase. After a few months digging, I’ve become inspired by many brilliant Chinese young artists, and I’ve created a ton of new stories about fashion, art, photography and more within this first issue for Chinese youths. Sitting with me, we can check the newest fashion collection s by Sankuanz, CLOT and Lanyu together. If you want to know some artists who have the ability to mix Chinese traditional culture and modern art together, you will also find their stories. Sharing is the best! This issue is jam-packed with loads of incredible artists and creators and I hope their stories inspire you as much as they have inspired myself.
With Love Zixin C
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in this issue
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Un Fugue
A Pale View of Mountains
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Runway Reviews Clot - Lanyu - Sankuanz
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The Playground of Luna
2018 Shanghai Fashion Week: Facts Beyond Chinese Fashion
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Wang He and His Modern Chinese Classic Art
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How Photographer Primol Xue Finds Beauty in Loneliness
I Came From Outer Space
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Photographers Chu Wang, Du Chen, Shiqi
Is There No Fashion in China?
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Photographer: RAN Designer: XINSON Stylist: XINSON Model: Qiao muwang
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Full Moon 满 月
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Collection Reviwes
The playground of Luna
I came from outter space
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Free Love: The Tender Life of Lanyu Woman
A handmade wedding dress is akin to a beautiful handmade piece of furniture or carpet – something that lasts a lifetime and carries the memories with it. Embroidered dress has stories to tell. “Free Love” is the name of Lanyu Fall 2018 RTW at New York Fashion Week. Also, this is the fourth time for Yu to launch her new collection in New York. Yu is famous as a bridal designer in China, and many Chinese actresses’ wedding dresses were prepared by her. As the fifth generation of the inheritor of traditional Suzhou embroidery which is famous for its delicate workmanship, beautiful designs, and elegant colors, Yu injected this special handmade skill with the unique design aesthetics. Yu has her own little world in mind for fashion design which filled by her extraordinary imagination. She used to let the elements of Dream of the Red Chamber, The Fifth Element, and Dunhuang murals walk into her design works, but for this season, the garments seemed more simple. She balanced the differences between the Chinese and the West fashion design by her own perspective of tailoring, making all of her collections periphrastic and tender. The exquisite cut of the garments expresses the one-of-a-kind charm of the Oriental women— the Lanyu woman. You cannot resist imagining the life of Lanyu woman; it’s quite an exceptional one. She comes for the purer purpose and on her body, she truly borrows fewer elements from last season. She adds more lace and seethrough fibers, using white and minimalism to catch people’s eyes. Of course, the silhouette of the shoulder is strengthened to be felt neutral and simple, and
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the streamlined tailoring brings out the female power in strong and graceful ways. Yet the designer has also melded a mood of stripped-down, put-together elegance, something of the traditional Suzhou embroidery combined with the new. For someone so intricately familiar with female body, Yu continues to perfect it on the runway through laser-sharp tailoring. Pulling the ropes and laces tightly, the garments themselves make the beautiful body curves more obvious, which matches the trend among women who aim to emphasize the feminine beauty. This touchable aspect, the very desirability of wearing and living in such garments, is an essential spotlight in Yu’s outpouring for Lanyu. With the inextinguishable Chinese factors mixing the looks and embellishing the model from top to bottom, it had a combination of constriction and comfort, a play of sensual and conservative. Yu let the small accessories set off the simple garments, while the mini-size embroidery bags appeared on shoulders, wrists, and hands. She sewed butterflies, white peonies and some others which have wonderful meanings in Chinese culture to the bags. Indeed, Yu never forgot her Chinese roots. She also remembers her experience with her mother to make a new Qipao(traditional Chinese female dress) when she was in high school. The beauty of the Oriental women has been put in the deep of Yu’s mind, and she is the one who knows how to deliver this kind of beauty in a perfect way.
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CLOT
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Made In China, With the World In Mind
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Whether as an actor/rapper/artist or as a designer, China’s Edison Chen has proven that he is a force to be reckon with. Launched in 2003, CLOT has become Chen’s life center after he announced his retirement as an actor in 2008. Maybe ten years ago when Chinese people talked about CLOT, they only knew that’s a street fashion brand established by a famous actor; however, when you mentioned CLOT to any Chinese cool kids now, they’re gonna say this is the pride of Chinese fashion brand. Literally, Edison Chen has turned into the main factor of CLOT’s success. Chen, with his co-founder Kevin Poon, picked NYFW to present their latest collection. The debut of CLOT was made happen in part thanks to an initiative between China’s ONLINE E-COMMERCE COMPANY T-mall and the Council of the Fashion Designers of America, which bridges Eastern and Western cultures through fashion. The main theme of the collection was “The past, the present and the future,” quite fitting for a Chinese designer, as country itself is focused on transitioning from old to new form of economy. The runway was designed as a white, hollow circle stage with the flower art by artist Makoto Azuma staged in the center of the runway. For Chen and Poon, this show felt more like a celebration for the 15th anniversary of COLT, or you can say this show is just like its concept—to look back to the past, to think about the future. As one of the first designers whose brand represents Chinese street fashion, Chen has led CLOT to be even more powerful by promoting Chinese culture to the world. It seems, the clothes are Chen’s instrument for building bridges. Lets break down some of the most successful looks: Chen has an uncompromising consistency in putting over his message: Tangzhuang(Chinese suit)—style bomber jacket with his signal SILK
print; an array of plaid jackets and pants; paneled shirts with floral and striped motifs; baggy pants with different colors. Forty-four looks were presented in which various details highlighted the show, asymmetric shirts, embroidery CLOT logo, and denim. His approach to the street style is uniquely Chinese, and stands out from many other street fashion brands. The show included some former CLOT collections for both womenswear and menswear, and his most famous collection in 2007: Royale SILK. Chen also delivered several limited collaborative products, such as a T-shirt from Sacai, a satin jacket from Fear of God and denim by John Elliott. Chen invited Taiwanese-born fashion editor of Details magazine Eugene Tong as the stylist to mash up those garments from different collections in different time periods. The result was a show to let the audience visualize the revolution of the brand with a cohesive sense. Moreover, the models were selected a number of celebrity fans who have a similar sense of style with CLOT, such as the social media influencer Aleali May and Dr. Woo. Ten years ago, many Chinese people might find Chen’s collections shocking because of his provocative behavior. Nonetheless, whether as angel or devil, he does not need permission. Last year, Chen had an open speech at New York University, and he said that he is trying to let “Made in China” turn into “Create in China,” and everything is from a Chinese perspective. The success of CLOT has proven his efforts are working—and he’s not even finished.
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Kill the Wall Chinese Designer Sankuanz Menswear’s Controversial Call 34
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Kill The Wall: Chinese Designer Sankuanz Menswear Controversial Call
Once again, Sankuanz, a rising Chinese fashion brand lead by Shangguan Zhe came to Paris Fashion Week. Shangguan Zhe is extremely adventurous for naming this show “Kill The Wall” as a Chinese designer, then what is the wall stands for? The freedom or everyone’s own personal war against what they are facing? Let him explain to the world. Zhe is originally from Fujian, China, and he never studied in any world-famous fashion design school, and maybe this is why he is so unique to China fashion industry. Studied visual development and advertising as a double-degree in University of Xiamen, China, Zhe launched his own brand in 2006. As a Chinese, Zhe is rebellious, and maybe every Chinese youth know what the wall is, the wall in the internet, such as Google and Facebook were banned in China and the system of the government, but Zhe is trying to kill it. Infused with a powerful new technical flavor, Sankuanz Fall 2018 comes packed with the signature military and utilitarian looks Zhe is known for. Making the innovative fabric and engineered outwear as the center, the color and silhouettes of this collection have a futuristic sense. The loose-shaped bomber jacket looks like a protective shield against radiation, and the fanny pack is the variant tumor. Also, the new Sankuanz logos and the Kill The Wall slogan appear on patches or as big white letters printed on cloth terry scarves. As a whole collection, Sankuanz is more mature and coherent, with 3M reflective panels reworked in the brand’s iconic oversized aesthetic. These are the ambiance created by the designer.
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The looks themselves delivered the same tone—not through the nationality, but by merging the various elements of different countries’ military uniforms together for creating the unbreakable shield and the sign of the honor. The bramble-inspired print as the main feature for the whole collection is a flag for this brave, cold-blooded underground army summoned by Zhe. The complementary functions of the outdoor clothing and accessories brought it all together—the black and olive sandals utilized three-dimensional velcro strap to lock in shoes, creating a heavy silhouette. Ready for battle? Two mesh and suede sneakers came in matching colors, alongside a lifestyle version, with SANKUANZ logos and branding accenting the grey nubuck and rubber. The looks were finished with Sankuanz signature bags, some in motifs to match the decorative pattern and attached in front of the waist, or robust backpacks, including styles made from Cordura nylon with a removable waterproof protective layer. Multi-purpose pockets were added to trousers, jackets and belts to enhance the theme of combat, while the patch pockets on military uniforms and trousers hit the industrial trend of industrial. With the unique sense of aesthetic stylist Marc Goehring from 032c magazine, Zhe visualized these vivid characters of soldiers for the future. The clothes he showed today, however, weren’t the same as he would have found in China 10 years ago. He is the one who has already awaken and he is using his clothes to call out more and more Chinese youth to break the rules, which is not only for the country but for themselves. For Zhe breaking the rules is synonymous with breaking the wall.
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KILL THE WALL
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The Playground Of Luna photographer: Yifan Chen stylist: Erika Mae Martin assistant stylist: Zixin Chen model: Nina art director: Zixin Chen
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I CAME FROM OUTER SPACE Photogarpher: Yifan Chen Styling: Yifan Chen Model: Leng Chuannan Outfits: Fengcheng Wang/ OXY 53
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Half Moon 弦 月
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Is there no fashion in China?
A pale view of mountains
2018 Shanghai fashion week
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Is There No Fashion in China?
Copycatting and the land of the manufacturing, that’s might be the impression that China gives to the world. I need to admit, since very young age, I have witnessed this phenomenon while producing fashion for the rest of the world, it hardly made it accessible for its own population. With the development of the economy in China after the 1980s, Chinese people started taking in various culture from other countries. Korean pop culture, Japanese street culture, American and British subculture, they all influenced Chinese youths from different aspects, besides, they are still influencing a bunch of Chinese people right now which causes that those Chinese young people, they kind of lose their own personalities, their own styles, and own attitudes. Many Chinese youths consider that there is no fashion in China since their parents who were born in the 1950s to 1970s grew up in a very strict, conservative time period. Actually, fashion in China is like a rose without soil, and it cannot alive since for Chinese young people, they are incapable of borrowing styles from the last generation. That’s too embarrassing. In other words, Chinese young adults only can copy styles from other countries’ trends,
and luckily, there are many other countries’ trends that Chinese can borrow, but nothing original from China. Copying fashion styles are happening everywhere in China no matter throughout the social media or in the reality. Actually, when I open my social media apps, such as Weibo and WeChat, many Chinese “fashion influencers” always appear on my homepage and I can easily recognize that this boy is very “Korean” style and that girl is trying to be more like a Japanese. Recently, there is a popular reality show called “Idol Producer,” in which have 100 Chinese boy trainees and nine of the 100 trainees will be chosen through a voting system by the viewers from the pool of 100 trainees to debut as a unit boy group of 9 people. Even though this survival show is compelling, some audience leaves their comments like “They are all like Korean people,” or “Please, stop being like a Korean boy.” Actually, copying styles is like a massive black hole which fastens many Chinese youths and they feel like that they have to follow other countries’ styles then they can be on trends. However, there are many existence Chinese fash-
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ion brands showing their talent, like Sankuanz, Babyghost, and Uma Wang. They are punching the world fashion industry with the power of Chinese design by showcasing their collections in New York, London, Paris and Milan fashion weeks. Moreover, some of them, such as Uma Wang, her collections are reported by BoF, Vogue, WWD and the New York Times. “She is among a new generation of designers who are transforming China’s reputation from the home of low-quality manufacturers to a place of dynamic creativity fueled by entrepreneurs ready to compete on fashion’s global stage,” said Robin Givhan, the Washington Post’s fashion critic. I’m sure that fashion in China is struggling, even though it’s truly a wide market here, the attitude of people towards fashion is fuzzy and shaky. Also, young Chinese fashion designers are struggling, too. I know a lot of Chinese students who are studying or studied at many different fashion design schools, like Parsons, Central Saint Martins, Academy of Art University and so on. Although there is no “last generation” for Chinese youth, they’ve started creating this generation: Our generation.
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A Pale View of Mountains Photogarpher: Chen Wei/ Zhou Yuwei Casting: Chen Wei
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2018 Shanghai Fashion Week: Facts Beyond Chinese Fashion
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True Facts: Part I
In only 17 years, Shanghai Fashion Week has already developed into a hotbed of design talent, which bridges Chinese fashion designers and the international stage with its innovative ideas. Each season, some new local labels seem to rise from this city. But, what is the meaning behind this brand-new fashion week? Established in 2001, Shanghai Fashion Week was more like a government action, since Shanghai is one of the most international cities and the most open city, in China. The government wanted Shanghai to be the place to promote original brands, and at the same time, it also could revitalize national brands. Moreover, Shanghai is the center of manufacturing in China, and Fashion Week was a catalyst that could link the manufacturing industry with the fashion industry Throughout China, the settings of Shanghai Fashion Week are not only promoting the Chinese fashion industry but also encouraging the development of fashion buyers which can let fashion vibe be alive outside Shanghai. As a newborn, 14 years ago, Shanghai Fashion Week presented a humble attitude; after all, the oldest fashion week—Paris Fashion Week—has been held for more than 90 years. Shanghai Fashion Week didn’t attract much attention at that time, and for a long period of time, nobody cared about this small fashion week. Even the fashion week organizing committee in China made fun of the situation, which was more about entertaining themselves than impressing a global audience.
But 10 years ago, Original Chinese design was beginning to emerge along with the development of the Chinese fashion designers. However, there was something embarrassing—the schedule of the fashion week. As we know, the traditional fashion weeks, such as the New York Fashion Week, are held in February and March for the A/W season, and the S/S season is held in November and October every year. According to seasonal coordinates, famous fashion brands will prepare next season right after this season. Shanghai Fashion Week cannot attract attention during the fashion week season, so it has its own schedule. The newest ideas have been shown to the world in the other four fashion weeks, so what could make Shanghai special? The committee members of Shanghai Fashion Week knew this situation clearly and they decided to use another way to make this fashion week shine. To attract talented Chinese designer, such as Shangguan Zhe and Qiu Hao, the committee has reduced their admission fees from 40,000 CNY to 100,000 CNY and provided free sites for the designers. However, the most important thing the committee did was to find Shanghai Fashion Week’s own unique role. There are several different parts of Shanghai Fashion Week: Tube Showroom, Mode Trade Show and Ontimeshow. Tube Showroom takes the avant-garde art route for fashion buyers and the Mode Trade Show, is for people in the fashion industry to talk with each other. Ontimeshow, by using subcultures, appeals more youths who care about fashion week— they invite rappers, DJs and some normal people as models to highlight the catwalks.
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In 2016, Shanghai Fashion Week created a new part called LABELHOOD, which is an avant-garde art festival. It is different from the conventional fashion platform since LABELHOOD has its own personality. Most of the designer brands here are combined with the release mode of walking show format with a static exhibition which means that after watching the show part, the audience can have more time to enjoy the garments at close range. One year after, the fashion week produced another new section: XCOMMONS. It’s totally different, as XCOMMONS is more elegant and mature. It explores how brands merge music, dancing and other art forms to express the brand’s own culture and philosophy. Meanwhile, it emphasizes the balance between design and business. This year, from March 8 to April 3, Shanghai Fashion Week was on the schedule as usual. There were almost 80 fashion brands have given showcases in Shanghai Fashion Week and some of them truly revealed the thoughts and attitudes of Chinese fashion.
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True Facts: Part II
Reclothing Bank
Reclothing Bank is a brand that only focuses on redesigning old clothes. During the 20—minute presentation, designer Zhang Na collaborated with the actors to showcase the runway through a drama performance. Zhang wanted to pass the idea of sustainability through her designs to people in China. The old clothes are the thing that can connect to the past and now she wants to reproduce them to relate to the future.
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Digest Design Workshop
This is Digest Design Workshop’s first launching show. By using traditional garments of Tibet, the Dai nationality and the Li nationality as the inspiration, the designer Dooling used one-piece tailoring to create the new collection.
Angle Chen
Injecting hip-hop dancing with the 2018 A/W season, Angel Chen invited three different dancing group to battle on the stage. In this runway, there were no models, only hip-hop dancers moving with the music in ANGEL CHEN’s garments. .
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True Facts: Part III The fashion designers above represent a part of rising Chinese designers and not only fashion brands want to showcase themselves in Shanghai Fashion Week, but also many department stores. One of the biggest online retailers JD joined the fashion show in 2017 and it had three fashion designers to present on the runway. It also started the idea of “See now, buy now.” However, unfortunately, the audience seemed didn’t want to pay for this kind of showcase. JD’s first designer JO QIAO DING’s new collection for A/W season 2017 and the price is around 2000-5000 CNY, up to now, no one bought it.
The fashion week organizing committee have started to entertain the audience from the world. Yet, Shanghai Fashion Week has a long way to go, whether it’s in attracting more people to know it or establishing a good relationship with the industry. However, it has tried its best to promote rising Chinese designers and to create a stage for them. What will Shanghai Fashion Week be? We only can wait and see.
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New Moon ć–° ćœˆ
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Wang he and his modern Chinese classic art
How photographer Pimol Xue finds beauty in loneliness
Chu Wang, Du Chen, Shiqi
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Wang He and His Modern Chinese Classic Art 82
Wang He’s fascination with painting began when he was three years old and he started to learn Chinese traditional landscape painting. Today, He works in the Fobbiden City reproducing traditional Chinese calligraphy and paintings. In his free time, however, he creates his own works of art which combine traditional Chinese shan shui landscape painting with elements commonly found in contemporary animation and technology. His modest personal studio is on the second floor of his home. The studio contains two lamps on both sides of his work table, some boxes of different paints, ink brushes and artists reference books. As a Beijing “tu zhu�(native in Mandarin), the Forbidden City was almost like a friend in his childhood, and since graduating from Tsinghua University with a major in industrial design, he has been working in the Forbidden City for more than ten years.
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In China, it’s easy for most young people to recall several of Wang He’s paintings. Lan Pang Zi is a series of works from 2014 that show his ability to connect the traditional and modern elements together. For many Chinese who were born in the 1980s and 1990s, Doraemon, the blue cat-shaped cartoon robot was the most popular Japanese animation character in China. Wang was born in 1983, and he still has strong memories of these cartoons from his childhood. So in 2014, Wang started using his Chinese landscape painting skills to introduce these animation characters into the ancient Chinese world.
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The Paiting Series of Lan Pang Zi At first glance, the painting on the left resembles a traditional depiction of a Chinese landscape, but take a closer look, and you’ll see that Doraemon is in a white Chinese Han-fu and stands next to the magical ‘anywhere door’ while his best friend Nobita is on a yellow submarine watching a flying crane with a telescope. Most of Wang’s paintings are copies of works from Song Dynasty from the 10th-13th Century, which marked the beginning of China’s shift towards a modern society and introduced art depicting people’s vibrant daily lives. In this sense, Wang’s style echoes the Song painters’ efforts to popularize art in the mainstream. “The ancient paintings convey the true feelings of the ancient people, and I try to use the familiar intentions of the contemporary people to convey these feelings,” Wang said.
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Before the birth of Wu Kong, the Monkey King
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Uncrewed Vehicle, Wang He’s newly finished work is a diptych painting. Unlike Lan Pang Zi, there is no Doraemon here, but all of the ancient people in the painting are practicing modern activities. In Uncrewed Vehicle, an ancient Chinese scholar flies a drone, and outside the wall, his servant is returning with another broken drone. The second painting in the diptych is an aerial drone view of the landscape in the first painting. Speaking with Wang He through email, he has discussed the challenges of painting in such a strictly traditional style, along with his thoughts about contemporary social media. He also shared his thoughts on introducing traditional Chinese and modern culture to the West.
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According to your own work, do you think that you are breaking the tradition rules of Chinese painting? I don’t believe so, since all my works uses traditional material and traditional painting skills. However, they are just something that resonates with modern people. Of course, a new narrative will inevitably bring a new expression, but this change is more like an inheritance and an iteration and I don’t want to break anything deliberately. The history of Chinese landscape painting is like a river, and all painters of different ages seem to be in it and only the upstream and downstream positions are different. No one’s work is without source and my creation is also no exception. You are often active on Weibo. Do you think that social media has any impact on your own life? Unlike most artists who show their works through the exhibition, I have been using Weibo to release my work, ever since I began creating them. For my work is a time-consuming ink brush painting, therefore, they are not bring produced at a high paced. Using social media, gives people who like my work an opportunity to experience the joy of a new piece in existence for the first time. For people who might comment on your work stating that it’s “inappropriate and nondescript.” How do you respond to that? Social media is a platform for public communication, and no matter what kind of work you create, you should be tolerant to accept different opinions and criticisms. Also, creating something new is what artists are chasing. If people say that my works are inappropriate and nondescript, it might be that the new things in my creation cannot be categorized into existing concepts and I would rather take this kind of “not good” comment as a compliment.
Recently, President Trump visited China and visited the Palace Museum, and you also reposted the photo of President Xi and President Trump on Weibo. What’s your opinion on this meeting President Trump had with China, using Chinese cultural traditions as the medium? After a rapid economic development, China urgently needs the soft power of culture to enhance the national image and this foreign affair is also reflecting the official emphasis on cultural soft power. Although China has a deep cultural heritage, we still need to realize that these are the heritage of our ancestors. Young artists of different fields, in order to bring out the true strength of Chinese modern culture, must strive harder. And this also is a driving force that encourages me to create. Because of your works and the documentary: Masters in Forbidden City, Chinese people start having a better understanding about people who work in the Forbidden City and want to know more about the traditional culture. Do you think that this can also make people in the West become more aware of Chinese traditional culture? The protection and restoration of cultural relics is a very complicated process. On the one hand, there are some differences between Chinese and Western concepts in the restoration of cultural relics, especially the differences between Chinese specific cultural relics. On the other hand, China is still leaning more advanced and scientific ways of restoring ancient art works from the west. However, I still feel that the western audience are certainly interested in the ancient Chinese cultural relics.
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Japanese Comic “Saint Seiya� in the Chinese Traditional Painting
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How Photographer Primol Xue Finds Beauty in Loneliness
The difference between fashion photographers and portrait photographers is that the former one needs to embody a single product or fashion spirit, like a kind of “fetishes�. By Tao
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Part I
Introduction: Primol Xue, a China-born fashion photographer. After graduating from college, Xue went to Beijing to study photography. He was studied mechanical engineering. When he was in school, he was fond of reading magazines. After graduating, he lived with his parents and felt that he still needed to find a way from his true hobby to as a real career. The idea was how wonderful it will be if one day he could do shooting for the magazine. In 2012, he arrived in Beijing to start his career. In the beginning years, he was working as the assistant of photographer until 2016. What makes things different was, in 2015, he starts working with Jumbo Tsui, who has just returned to Beijing from Paris. Xue personally feels that he is a conceptual and logical photographer, who can deliver both vision and ideology through image expression.
What is the difference between domestic and overseas creative environments, in terms of your personal experience? The creative environment in China is more limited, and there is a little room for independent thinking. For example, the process of cooperation with the media is even more limited. The media has its own style and orientation to cater to, and the resources of the model are relatively limited, only a small part can reach that state. You need to compromise 80% and only 20% remains for personal creating during the working process. (After long-term commercial thinking, it is possible that you become a good commercial photographer, not a good fashion photographer.) Overseas is more open. How to let customers accept your inner demands and match customer needs is a difficult point. Generally speaking, the customer will have a general framework for the request. According to the direction the customer wants, there will be a consideration: what is
more suitable for the client, to make the quality of the product is nice and advanced, and evade the bad things. I will explain to the client in advance about the sense of light, setting, etc, will not go beyond my own style. 60-80% of the possibilities of communication will be successful, but there is no lack of stubborn clients only requires to finish the work. Will you consider the power of communication when creating? Will you cater to some social media? In general, I won’t. But when I do shooting for celebrities, it is likely that there will be a balance, to consider whether this process of communication will be criticized by others and whether there will be some ridicule. If I want artists to do some very high fashion poses, some people may not understand and recognize. I will adjust to the public acceptable range. Other people’s opinions will be different. As an experienced photographer, we should
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Part I understand the characteristics of different media and platforms, and try to be as creative as possible in magazines. What is lacking in the country is not to consider the tone of the media and the sense of quality to be presented. The more we deviate from this trajectory, the more people tend to take a more concave posture. Others’ positions that people do not understand can make others feel vanguard, new school, and different. This is stupid. If others do not understand your work, then you have not been so successful. To do the substraction: it’s not easy to tell a simple story. JoJo, a former editor of GQ magazine, had a great influence on me. What she wants to express is quite directly. Once, I needed to shoot a ring, but how to make it stand out? I’ve been shooting the whole body. She told me that’s too much for what we want to express. Later I just chose to take a picture of a hand inside back pocket. She accepts that vision finally. So, it’s good to be direct. More faces may lead to more association, so I am basically focusing on details or portrait. Shield off the people in the frame, only to show the clothes itself.
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Part II Do you feel lonely? What is the relationship between creation and loneliness? I think many people are very lonely now, but they don’t think they are. There are many pompous people in my social circle. When you put aside the working relationship, you are lonely. (If you are aware of your loneliness, may you have been different from others?) This is a good thing. When you feel lonely, you have a lot of time for independent thinking. The downside is that there are no real friends, all the relationships go for interests. The distance between People become longer, people keep alert with each other. Loneliness is not shameful, actually, it is quite advanced. No one disturbs you, and only by thinking independently you could generate something that belongs to you. This is why London and even Europe have so many artists who are able to think independently. Instead of rushing to follow others. If one day in China people can realize that you are yourself, I am myself, the market will start to change. Do you usually take photos with your mobile phone? Can the mobile phone replace the camera? I use the mobile phone to record, keep the current state. Although digital camera and mobile phones both digital, it still has a difference. You have to use your eyes to observe instead of looking at the view. Using eyes to capture is actually a physical way. There is no way to accept the composition without your eyes, there needed to go through the pentaprism anyway. In general, what inspired you most? Modern art, installation art, a touch of life. I would give thought about the whole process from the initial consideration to how to express it. Recently, I am thinking about balancing. I use the basic tie-
wraps used by trucks bundled the different things together. Everyone needs to find a balance point. What I pursue recently is a balance. These days I am reading Pingwa Jia’s ZiZaiDuXing. The things inside are very similar to those of my childhood and my mother. The more mature we are, the more we can understand the parents’ contribution to children. When would you feel at shooting: that’s it! When would you feel at shooting: that is the one! I have three criteria for judging my own work. 1. Make sure that there is no problem with the light. Since you are a professional photographer, you must have technical standards in the industry. If you can’t reach it, you will fall behind. 2. Screen composition, for example, Whether the set is reasonable or not. 3 Whether the person’s status and theme match or not. When my eyes are looking at the camera, I can see there will be what you want next. What is your ideal state of work and life? I have a way out before, but my own standards have changed. Now I work ten days a month. I feel anxious and have a sense of crisis when I am free, affair that young people will replace me. No attitude and no pursuit. I often have a hard standard, that is also the reason for the recent trip to Europe, I want to improve my English, to communicate with international teams more smoothly, and gain more trust. It was difficult to separate work and life in China. Once you do not reply to job messages, they feel that your work attitude is just not good. During the six years in Beijing, I have no vacation on my own. Maybe after accumulated more work experience, I’ll find inner peace to be free. Now it is possible to selectively give up, avoid things that are meaningless, and will not improve my skills nor lift my reputation. More freedom now. People who understand you will always choose you.
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Chu A Chinese photographer based in San Francisco
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Du Chen I’m (not) chasing the American dream.
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Far Away From The North
photographer: Shiqi model: Ye xin
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