Thank you for everyone who came to visit Chen Man's First UK Solo at Chinese Arts Centre. It is ashamed Chen Man couldn't come over and meet us, but we still manage to interact with her through the Q&A. We have collected over 70 questions covering a wide range of subject matters around her art practice, inspiration and interested, careers and believe.
CAREER
My works are divided into three phases. I’m trying to explain/express myself in the two phases. The first phase is the “visual” phase, back then I was still in college, did a lot of post-production. Until now, no one has done anything like this, it’s my creative attempt, a young creative passion, lots of additions, felt alive.
Then I got into fashion, people were concerned about my works, afraid of too much post-production that turns into portraits of fairy and demons. Then I jumped to a minimalist stage, without any transition, the pictures were like enlargement of the one inch photos. These works made people know my skills are not just in post-production, stars began to look for me, that lead to my status of the mainstream fashion photographer.
After I shoot lots of superstars, I started to work on the Chinese contemporary background series. This series is very special to me, because I’m the first fashion photographer that uses Chinese contemporary faces and background into mainstream fashion. China was used to copying Western or Japanese/Korean style, this is new, and it’s easy to fail. But I know I can do it because of three reasons:1)I never went to abroad to study, I’m a local photographer; 2)I’m familiar with the vision industry; 3)I think this is what I should do. China should not repeat its ancient art over and over again. I would like to show what contemporary Chinese art can be. This group of photos, the most famous one with Lu Yan on the Great Wall, was the first time that a mainstream fashion magazine shot on Great Wall. It was quiet a sensation. Foreign magazine “Mirror” did an article about it, saying it’s the new face and reformation of Chinese fashion.
The third phase of my works is based on Chinese culture, adapted by Western techniques. They offer a visual combination of contemporary international aesthetics and local cultural sensibilities. It’s using vision from the spoiled material civilization, to achieve visual exposition of the modern languages.
INSPIRATION & INFLUENCE
- CONCEPT
Q: Can you describe the aesthetic of your photo?
A: My works are complex, it matches the faces of our era; it’s Oriental and Western, it’s neither mainstream nor non-mainstream; it’s the past, the present and the future; It’s tacky and elegant. They are based on Chinese culture, adapted by Western techniques. They offer a visual combination of contemporary international aesthetics and local cultural sensibilities, achieved with “software” from the ancient Chinese culture, “hardware” from modern Western culture.
Q: As one of the leading fashion photographers in China, how do you balance your business work and arts practice?
A: Art and business have fallen in love. Now artists are doing business by replicating themselves. Commercial products can be art as well, such as iPad. I don’t want to separate them, that would be to restrict myself.
Q: Who inspires you?
A: Everyone inspires me, from street photographers to masters. Masters may fail; ordinary people achieve great art as well.
Q: Have you inspired from Japanese Art? ex, Japanese woodblock print.
A: I’m not sure. I like Japanese culture though; they keep their traditions very well.
Q: The photographs are very styled, do you create the styling yourself or do you collaborate other stylist to create the looks, as would be the case in fashion photography?
A: Sometimes I create them myself, sometimes I work with others. I have my own independent style, but I can’t survive without my people. My work is based on Chinese traditions, edited by Western techniques.
- CULTURE
Q: What is your major influence?
A: Life is my inspiration; my generation and the place where I was born. I am also inspired by traditional Chinese philosophy and culture, in particular the part that’s useful to world’s environmental protection that which promotes balance between our heart and the outside world.
Q: Does Beijing street culture play an important role in your works?
A: Yes. It plays a big role indeed. I always want to shoot the faces of contemporary China, it’s positive and rising. No one has done anything like this in the Chinese fashion industry. I like to use ordinary tourist spots as backgrounds, shooting places such as Tianmen Square into fashion. It was not easy and many viewers were against it. I did it and did it for mainstream A-list fashion magazines. Those were the second phase of my works.
Q: How would you describe your generation? What’s the different with the previous one? And how has this influenced your work?
A: The last generation is very special in Chinese history, they experienced major reform in China. We represent the generation after China’s reform and opening up. We witnessed the material dreams become reality. That’s why my works are complex. It matches the faces of our era; it’s Oriental and Western, it’s neither mainstream nor non-mainstream; it’s the past, the present and the future; It’s tacky and elegant.
- PHILOSOPHY
Q: How does Buddhism and Dao influence your works?
A: Everyone should have their own religion. Buddhism, Daoism, or Christian are all beliefs passed on to us from the ancient history. Each one of us has to find our own way to use it in our daily life. I believe we need these religions, but we also need modern visual translations of these beliefs, that’s what I’m doing now.
Q: What is the most important piece of advice you can give to somebody looking to break into the fashion industry? What inspires you to create 3D fashion photography?
A: Be true to yourself. There is a famous saying in Buddhism, nothing is everything, everything is nothing, what you see physically is like a dream, it may not be true. We should use the least resources to create with the highest intelligence to reach harmony between man and nature.
- ENVIRONMENT
Q: Environment protection is a popular subject matter in your work. Could you share with us your approach?
A: I tried to make art based on Chinese culture, using Western techniques, that are useful in terms of environmental protection, for the balance between our heart and the outside world, using visions from the spoiled material civilization, to achieve visual exposition of the modern languages. Environmental consciousness within us determines the environmental quality of the outside world, and this is what we need in a world dominated by material civilization. We should use the least resources to create with the highest intelligence to reach harmony between man and nature.
Q: Has your focus on environmental issues influenced any new approaches within the fashion industry?
A: I hope so. I think I’m a translator. Being honest and true so more people can listen to it, understand and be aware of it.
- GENDER
Q: Have you ever had comments (positive or negative) made about the sexualisation of the female figure in your work? And what has been your response to this?
A: I am generous and I like negative comments, as long as they have a point. It’s just views from another perspective, like a mirror. For example, I never delete the negative comments on my blogs or weibo (twitter in China)
Q: The art world in China is heavily male dominated. What is the challenge of being a female artist in China?
A: Chinese men and women are equal, the principle of the Chinese women is to be soft like water and respect her husband. She could do what a man can do here.
Q: Could you please tell me about your view on feminity and attraction?
A: I love women’s skin fat.
Q: What is your view of feminity and what is your view of China?
A: Words in a book are not enough to describe my view. Overall, Chinese women are beautiful and implicit. China is too.
ART PRACTICE
Q: Why did you choose Love and Water as your themes for the collection?
A: It’s inspired by and named after love and water; it comes from ancient Chinese’ ideology - harmony between man and nature. Love is conscious but invisible; water is material and tangible; and these are two main elements of the origin of life. Pink represents love and the West; blue represents water and the East, environmental consciousness within us determines the environmental quality of the outside world, and this is what we need in a world dominated by material civilization. We should use the least resources to create with the highest intelligence to reach harmony between man and nature.
Q: You’re famed for your bold and innovative fashion photography. How important do you think make-up is in creating the finished look?
A: It can be the most important or the least important. It all depends on the subject.
Q: Why did you choose to collaborate with M.A.C? What was it about the brand that appealed to you?
A: MAC is a very friendly brand; it’s targeting all skin colours and all ethnicity. The packaging colour black represents its complexity and colourfulness inside; everyone can find their own colour in their make-up.
Q: The products feature the ying yang symbol; is the concept of opposites important in your work?
A: I really like the mineralized eye shadow. The color and shape of the eye shadow looks like a yin-yang imprint, similar to that seen in Taoism, I feel this is something which has life to it.
Q: You always start with a photograph and complete with Photoshop, what is the importance of combining these two?
A: Beauty can be divided into two categories, Natural beauty and the Beauty of Wisdom. The combination of the two is the meaning of human beings. Environmental consciousness within us determines the environmental quality of the outside world, and this is what we need in a world dominated by material civilization. We should use the least resources to create with the highest intelligence to reach harmony between man and nature.
Q: Do you edit the pictures yourself?
A: My first phases of works are all edited by myself, and all my artistic work. I start to draw when I was 2, I started to design when I was 17.
Q: Would you modify the make-up a lot when you are doing the retouching, or you will keep them almost the same as originally?
A: Yes, but make-up and digital post-production are just tools. You are still you.
Q: What time pass one photograph in production?
A: It depends, sometimes a few hours sometimes a year.
Q: When you think that the picture is finished?
A: It’s never finished, if I really look into it.
Q: Where do the narratives for your work come from?
A: I write my own narratives, usually my works are self-spoken, but sometimes I need to explain them as well.
MORE ABOUT CHEN MAN
Q: What’s your own beauty routine like?
A: I rarely wear any make-up. Often just draw in my eyebrows.
Q: What is your attraction to Sci-Fi?
A: Sci-Fi is science but it‘s not necessarily correct. Illusions are not necessarily fake.
Q: Have any novels inspired you?
A: I rarely read any novels, I watch TV series, I like the Chinese ancient novel “Journey to the West”.
Q: Where do you go to find peace or get away from work?
A: I find balance from what’s within me.
Q: Have any films inspired your work?
A: I rarely watch movies. The most recent one I watched is HAPPY FEET 2, and I liked it.
Q: Do you take your camera everywhere you go?
A: iPhone is my daily camera.
Q: What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
A: Choose the right man.
Q: Would you do some internet tutorials?
A: I have a blog, twitter and weibo. That’s all for now.
