HIGHLY COMMENDED
Courtesy of Qiu Jiexiang
Qiu Jiexiang
She was born in Hubei in 1995 and grew up in Lishui, Zhejiang Province. She has been particularly interested in painting since she was a child and likes to draw all kinds of different things in daily life.
Since high school, she has been studying painting systematically and is proficient in drawing, gouache, sketching, and illustration. She studied at the College of Arts of Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics during 2015-2019, majoring in photography.
Her interest in photography started at that time. She especially likes to take portraits and is particularly fascinated by the different faces and expressions between various people. During her college years, she often participated in various photography competitions, winning some.
In order to further her artistic study, she enrolled in the graduate school of the Central Academy of Fine Arts after her undergraduate. Since 2019, she has been studying and persisting in photography creation in Beijing, trying to explore different creative contents and artistic styles. Since she grew up in the countryside, she has always been more concerned about rural people and their development and has a deep understanding of local culture. She also focuses on themes such as environmental destruction in cities and emotional changes between people, hoping to draw more attention to low-income people and minority groups through her creations.
Meeting up
With the advent of globalization, more and more different ethnic groups are able to encounter each other and build friendship and love. During my time in college, I met people from all over the world. In the process, I slowly built up my knowledge of different cultures and individuals, making me aware of the diversity of the world's cultures and the richness of groups. Based on this, I photographed every face I ever encountered.