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Chen Man: East Meets West

From influential singer Faye Wong horse-riding through a neon-pink field for Harper’s Bazaar to Dolce & Gabbana playing mahjong with actor Gao Yixiang for Men's Uno, celebrated photographer Chen Man curates a selection of personal picks from her archives. A 2005 graduate of Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts, Man was introduced to the fashion industry by make-up artist Li Dong Tian and quickly made a name for herself through vibrant imagery and a self-confessed excessive use of post-production. She went on to create a groundbreaking series of covers for avant-garde Chinese lifestyle magazine Vision, and her portfolio now includes editorials for Vogue China, Elle and i-D, as well as portraits of celebrities like actress Shu Qi and internationally renowned model Du Juan. Inspired by and passionate about her homeland, Man's work often features the nation’s modern citycapes and historical buildings as a backdrop to references from street culture, animation, sci-fi and pop sources. “My work is always a hybrid mix,“ she explains. “It is East and West; mainstream and alternative; of the present and the future; tacky meets elegant. It features ancient Chinese culture as its software, and Western contemporary culture as its hardware.” Man has exhibited in international institutions including the V&A Museum in London, MOCA Shanghai and Today Art Museum in Beijing. Here the illustrious camerawoman discusses her revolutionary approach.

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