Chen Man has almost single-handedly put Chinese photography and models on the global fashion map. She reveals what might be her biggest project yet
As Mainland China’s hottest photographer, Chen Man is often thinking about the next big thing. Next season’s fashion. Next month’s magazine covers. Next year’s breakout film star, who will primp and preen in front of her lens for portraits that will stare out from newsstands around the world.
But today, she's thinking about the past—and the long journey to where she is now.
Making her mark
Chen burst onto the scene in Beijing in the early 2000s, when China’s economy was booming and Western luxury brands were wooing the newly wealthy with glossy adverts on billboards and in magazines.
Most of these photos were shot by Western photographers and starred white models, who were often pictured posing against quintessentially European backdrops. China, and Chinese people, were rarely featured. Chen saw an opportunity, but first she had to catch the industry’s attention.