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Feng Li
冯立

Feng Li (Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, 1971)

Feng Li currently lives and works in Chengdu. He received a degree in Chinese medicine and became a photographer for the government communication department –– by day. Feng's own decade-long creative practice led to "White Night" which established him as one of the most compelling street photographers from China in recent years. "White Night" was shortlisted for the Aperture PhotoBook Awards in 2017.

"White Night" tells a dystopic tale of the Chinese urban experience. Feng Li inverts mundane reality into a haunting underworld, distinguished visually by the glaring flashes and the uncanny capture of eclectic pedestrians. In doing so, Feng Li’s images bring forth transparent desires, clashing ideologies, and an unpredictable future to their viewers. Explaining the series’ poetic, yet mystical title, Feng Li writes, “The night outside my window is white as the day when the passengers walk in a hurry. This is my world, of white night.”

Favorite Photographers: I am paying more and more attention to the works of amateur photographers. Many of them do not follow set guidelines and have created astonishing results. For example, Thomas Sauvin collected and compiled thousands and thousands of Chinese family albums in the 80s and 90s. Many of the pictures in these albums are definitely as creative, if not more than ones done by professional artists.

Image Credit: Courtesy Feng Li

Feng Li: Official Website

Reviewed by Felix Ho Yuen Chan, Chinese photography specialist


冯立 (1971年生于四川省成都市)

冯立在四川成都生活与工作。毕业于中医专业的他长期在政府宣传部门从事摄影工作,也在过去十年来专注于个人的摄影,造就了《白夜》系列。该书于2017年入选光圈摄影社(Aperture)图书奖。

冯立通过《白夜》系列成为了近年来自中国最具说服力的街头摄影师。他的影像通过闪光对来往人物的捕捉创造了白日颠倒的异想世界。冯立的图像透露出了透明的欲望,相互冲突的意识形态,向观者勾勒出了一个未知的未来。冯立对系列标题的解释为:“他们白昼遇见黑暗,午间摸索如在夜间。”

冯立喜爱的摄影师: 其实我现在越来越喜欢非专业摄影师拍摄的照片,他们总是不按照套路来,经常会有很多意外的效果。比如法国人托马斯苏文 (Thomas Sauvin)在北京收集了几十万张中国八九十年代的普通人的家庭相册,里面就有非常多的画面绝不亚于职业艺术家的创造力。

Image Credit: 图片由冯立提供