Judges
COTM | BTG SHORTLIST 2025
EMERGING PHOTOGRAPHER AWARD
Jinyu Shi
The Black River
Male, Yi nationality, born in 1996 in Ganluo County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China, is currently a postgraduate student at the School of Photography, Beijing Film Academy. His creative works are rooted in the minority cultures of his hometown Liangshan, focusing on the encounters of the ethnic groups in the process of modernization.
His series of works have won the 2021 BarTur Photography Award, the “Nikon Cup” National Youth Photography Exhibition, the 500pxBEST10 Best Humanistic Documentary Photos, the Gold Medal of the 17th Sichuan Photography Art Exhibition, and the “Road to Hometown” in China. His works have been collected by Tsinghua University Art Museum and Yinchuan Contemporary Art Museum.
The Black River
The Black River explores the Yi ethnic group’s cultural legacy through their ancestral migration across Liangshan, reimagining myths from The Book of Origins with contemporary residents embodying legendary figures. Blending documentary and artistic photography, it challenges stereotypes by tracing the ancient Jinsha River migration route, revealing enduring Yi values—resilience, community, and nature reverence—amid modernization. Focusing on youth navigating cultural preservation and urban influence, the project combines vibrant imagery with ethnographic research. Recognized at major Chinese photography festivals, it now expands archival documentation of Yi oral traditions. Final outputs include a photobook merging historical maps with portraits and multimedia installations for exhibitions. By framing Yi heritage as key to China’s pluralistic identity, The Black River offers a grassroots model for cultural preservation in a globalized era.
