If you don’t know photographer Lin Zhipeng (aka 223) by name, it’s the Western art world that’s at fault. For the last 10 years, one name (and one name only) has dominated the realm of Chinese photography: Ren Hang. The subversive twenty-something became the archetypal image-maker for an entire nation. “He was a good friend of mine, and we knew each other for a long time,” Zhipeng tells SLEEK. “But it’s ignorant to compare me to him.”
Not only is it unbelievably problematic that the Western canon has only found room for one photographer from the most populated country on earth, it’s meant an abundance of other talented Chinese photographers (like Zhipeng) have been outshone and overlooked. Though there are obvious overlaps between Hang’s work and Zhipeng’s — erotic, esoteric and explicit portraits of life, love and youth — the two differ as much as they align. Not to mention, Zhipeng began lensing the obscurity and tenderness of his everyday life some years before Hang first picked up a camera. “I cannot say my photographs inspired him,” he admits, “but I honed my style before him.”
That’s not to say that Zhipeng hasn’t been successful: he has a sprawling body of work that’s as beautiful as it is arresting; he’s shot for multiple magazines; published several books and exhibited across the world. His controversial subjects — exposed bodies, pubic hair, naked lovers intertwined — are censored in his native China, and challenge sexual taboo through their hedonistic liberation. Ahead of the release of his next book, Sour Strawberries, we caught up with the Beijing-based photographer to talk about his wealth of work it’s time you got acquainted with.
When did you first start taking photographs?
I started taking photos around 2000. But I became involved in art photography in 2004.
What interests you about image-making, what are you looking to evoke, create, or capture in your images?
I have always been interested in images — from photography, to graphic design, to movies. I just want to record my daily life, my growth and experiences, in my images. It just so happens that I have many interesting and creative friends who are willing to be involved in my photography. I also travel a lot, I enjoy my life — everything in my life can become a subject in my photography.
Film or digital?
Only film for artworks — it’s probably a bad habit, but I’ve been shooting film ever since I started art photography in 2004. I love the quality of it, and I don’t need to retouch the images. The only digital camera I use is an iPhone.
What were taking pictures of when you started out?
When I first began photographing, I experimented with street photography — an old airport, people on the street, and short trips I took around cities. Months later, a friend commented on my blog and asked me if I could take pictures of her. I did so, and I realised it was amazing to shoot a friend’s face and body. After that, I started shooting more and more people around me, and my own life.
Who are the subjects of your photographs — and how important is it that you forge a connection with them?
All of the subjects of my photographs are my friends. It’s very important for me to have an intimate and close relationship with them, so that when I take out my camera, they won’t feel nervous or defensive. That feeling of comfort is the most important thing when taking photographs.
How do you react to the taboos of sex and nudity in China? What effect does this have on your work?
I feel like I am chasing some kind of freedom, but it’s not a real freedom. I am living in China, and I have to obey the law in China. I can exhibit my explicit and nude artworks within an art context, like a gallery, but they’re always censored on social media.
Do you think photography is more about escapism or reality?
Both. Documentary photography is reality. Concept photography is escapism.
What have been the different reactions to your work in the West vs. the non-West?
I think my works are more accepted in the West, by all ages. Maybe my style is going a bit faster than people’s cognition and aesthetics in the non-West, so here it’s mainly only appreciated by the younger generation. After all, it is not a common aesthetic in China!
What’s your process for composing an image — what comes first?
Unusual subjects. But most of time, the moment of shooting just comes straight from my mind.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m seldom actually working on projects, as such. All of my photographs are born from daily life or improvisation. So I don’t have any plan for my art — just to keep shooting. My new photography book Sour Strawberries will be published soon, and I’m planning a solo exhibition in November in Stieglitz19 Antwerp. I also have another solo show coming up next summer in The Delaware Contemporary in USA.