On the afternoon of January 24, 2016, the 2015 China New Talent Photography Award by LensCulture was announced, with Chen Zhe winning the Grand Prize for her work “Towards Evening: Six Chapters.” She will receive a reward worth 100,000 RMB. Congratulations to Chen Zhe.
The five shortlisted creators — Bingnu, Huang Zhenwei, Yang?, Wang Juyan, and Zou Biyu — received Nomination Awards and a 10,000 RMB creation fund.
Award Ceremony Venue
At the award ceremony, the event commenced with a speech by renowned art critic, curator, and this year’s jury chair Mr. Fei Dawei, who shared insights from the initial selection to the final judging process. Following that, the six shortlisted photographers — Bingnu, Chen Zhe, Huang Zhenwei, Yang?, Wang Juyan, and Zou Biyu — introduced their works and creative journeys one by one.
The six judges from China and abroad who came to the finals, along with Jury Chair Fei Dawei, delivered an engaging lecture. Renowned photographer Zhang Qianqi, Japanese photographer and writer Yurie Nagashima, senior curator of the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain GRAZIA QUARONI, artistic director of the Lianzhou Foto Festival Duan Yuting, Aperture Foundation book publishing director Leslie A. Martin, and Yan You, publisher of the independent publishing house False Magazine\The six guests were divided into three groups, discussing their perspectives on photography from the viewpoints of creator, art curator, and photography publisher respectively.
Speeches by Zhang Qianqi and Yurie Nagashima
Speeches by GRAZIA QUARONI and Duan Yuting
Speeches by Leslie A. Martin and Yan You
After the thematic forum, Yan You, publisher of False Magazine, presented the “New Talent EOS Youth Imaging Award” to the photography duo Chen Wenjun and Jiang Yanmei. \Li Zeyu, Chairman and CEO of LensCulture, announced the Grand Prize winner, and the jury awarded certificates to the five nominated photographers.
Jury Award Citation
“The LensCulture China New Talent Photography Award gives us the opportunity to learn about the creations of young Chinese photographers, which makes us very happy. Every photographer in the running for the Grand Prize has demonstrated tremendous potential. In our view, they are all winners, and we look forward to seeing more of their work in the future. The shortlisted photographic works show the diverse development of contemporary photography. Choosing one Grand Prize winner among them was a very difficult decision. Ultimately, we selected a photographer who not only has a spirit of adventure and dares to challenge boundaries but also demonstrates excellent control over different visual strategies.”
"It was a pleasure to be introduced toemerging Chinese photographers through the Xitek New Talent Award. The Jurycould see real potential in each of the six finalists we consider them all aswinners and look forward to seeing more from them in the future. The selectionas a whole shows how broad and how varied photography is today. In thedifficult process to select one from this group, we chose a photographer who istaking risks and pushing boundaries—yet who also shows control over a varietyof visual strategies. "
Jury’s live explanation of the awarding rationale
Award-winning photographer Chen Zhe
Judges award the Nomination Awards
“Chen Wenjun and Jiang Yanmei use photography to re-examine the relationship during their journey from falling in love to getting married. They attempt to transcend the realm of private photography, guiding the viewer’s perspective toward the broader, ordinary daily life. Their photography can also be seen as a form of performance, presenting their views on gender and marriage. Among today’s youth, it possesses uniqueness as well as universality.” — Yan You
EOS Youth Imaging Award ceremony
On the day of the award ceremony, Sigma Corporation of America (Shanghai) specially launched a development project for young Chinese photographers for the LensCulture China New Talent Photography Award — the “SIGMA Art Creation Fund.” Mr. Wang Hao from Sigma Corporation of America (Shanghai) was present to deliver a speech.
Finally, Ms. Wang Yuan, COO of LensCulture, gave a closing speech, announcing the conclusion of the 2015 China New Talent Photography Award ceremony. All guests and media proceeded to the Anxin Trust · Zhi Mei Space on the 39th floor of the Shanghai Three on the Bund Sheraton Hotel to view the exhibition (on display until February 23, 2016).
Towards Evening: Six Chapters
Chen Zhe
Artist Statement
Towards Evening: Six Chapters (2012–ongoing) is a thematic journey undertaken to understand dusk. The artist seeks to channel her longstanding fascination with dusk into literary and photographic stylistic experiments. Composed of chapters, the series attempts to develop dusk through six slices — “Heterogeneous Time,” “Melancholy at Dusk,” “Cocoon of Red,” “Between Faces,” “Two Kinds of Light,” and “Erebus” — to render dusk visible; exploring how, in a daily context, dusk digests people and is digested by them.
“The process of daytime fading and nightfall is the most mysterious thing. It causes marks to suddenly appear in the sky, filled with anxiety and uncertainty. No one can predict what form any given night will take when it arrives... If I could find a language to reproduce those phenomena — those so unstable and yet so difficult to describe phenomena; if I had the ability to explain to others the stages and sequences of a unique time that would never occur in the same way again, then — that’s what I thought at the time — I would be able to uncover the deepest secrets of my craft in one breath; ... I would be able to receive revelations in a brief daydream, revelations from the forces that battle within me all day long, hidden and unresolved.” — Claude Lévi-Strauss, Tristes Tropiques
The selected works are excerpts from Chapters One to Three of Towards Evening: Six Chapters.
About the Artist
Chen Zhe lives and works in Beijing. She graduated in 2011 from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles with a Bachelor’s degree in Photography and Imaging. Her works are held in collections of art institutions and private collectors, and have been widely exhibited both domestically and internationally.
Chen Zhe’s early practice began with self-destructive acts as a form of spiritual baptism, using photography and writing to explore the inner otherworlds of herself and others. Her autobiographical work Bearable and its sequel Bee won the Three Shadows Annual Photographer Award and the Lianzhou Foto Festival New Photography Award in 2011, as well as the Inge Morath Award from the Magnum Foundation.
In her new work Towards Evening: Six Chapters, Chen Zhe takes dusk as her theme, continuing her exploration of medium language. Attempting to create “layers between existing things, thereby producing an ambiguous place” through the interplay of image and text, she strives to preserve the consciousness of dusk as fully as possible.
Chen Zhe's work "Six Chapters Towards Evening"
Review of the award ceremony
Check-in scene
Leather goods specially customized by Cam-in for emerging talents
Speech by Mr. Fei Dawei, Chairman of the Jury
Shortlisted photographers
Mr. Li Zeyu, Chairman and CEO of 500px
Exhibition site of the 500px · 2015 China Emerging Photography Awards Shortlist Exhibition