Zhou Xin is a photographer at Guangzhou Daily. This year, she came second in the World Photography Prize (WPP) 2006 competition with a shot entitled "Thais Commemorate Victims of the Tsunami". In doing so, Zhou joined an elite group - there were only two prizewinners in China this year, moreover she is only the second female Chinese prizewinner in the competition's history.
Zhou has a story to tell. She didn't start off as a photo-journalist. 7 years' study of sociology didn't make her a sociologist, but instead pushed her towards photo-journalism by teaching her an extraordinary way of thinking. Zhou regularly has to compete for the best angles with taller and stronger male photographers. But she has her methods, like once when Taiwanese politicians Lian Zhan and Song Chuyu visited China, she took along a mini metal ladder to get her head and shoulders above her competitors.
About the work "Thais Commemorate Victims of the Tsunami"
DAYOO: "Did you stop to think why your work moved the judges' hearts?"
Zhou Xin: "I think it's traditional for people to commemorate a disaster one year later. It's certainly a shock when you see ceremonies in Thailand using Kong Ming lanterns. As you know the Kong Ming lantern, which the Chinese invented, is now a very old ceremony. But I have never seen as many Kong Ming lanterns flying as there were on this day in Thailand. I remember one reporter from China Critique recounting one female judge's comment that my picture was very important, a moment that had to be recorded. She thought it was beautiful."
DAYOO: "Hadn't you ever considered the picture important?"
Zhou Xin: "I record everything that moves me, and I have my own criteria. There were many commemorations that day; several provinces held ceremonies at the same time in Thailand. So I could make my choice after seeing them. Movement at night used a special technique, and I considered it important."
DAYOO: "You took pictures till 9 p.m. without stopping for dinner?"
Zhou Xin: "Yes. When I returned to the hotel, it was already 1 a.m."
DAYOO: I have heard some criticism of your prize, and even another photographer saying he took the same picture, but didn't bother to submit it. Did you think you could win a prize with that picture?"
Zhou Xin: "It had nothing to do with the prize, but in my mind I considered the moment significant and meaningful. So, as you said the scene was shot by many people, but maybe not all of them captured it with the same competence.."
DAYOO: "So the picture sent to the competition was a picture that made sense to you?"
Zhou Xin: "Absolutely, yes."
Collection of the World Photography Prize (WPP) 2006 Competition
Zhou Xin's work "Thais Commemorate Victims of the Tsunami"
What makes a girl want to be a news photographer? Why would a student graduating in sociology take up a job with no relation to it?
DAYOO: "Why did a postgraduate like you, take up a photography job that a student from training school could do?"
Zhou Xin: "I think good photography doesn't depend on formal schooling, but on experience and feelings. In one way, I gave up my sociology studies, but not really. Knowledge is a process of accumulation; it affects your viewpoint on affairs and life.
DAYOO: "It helped you to become sensitive."
Zhou Xin: "It helps me to recount a designated topic."
DAYOO: "You've never thought your talent is wasted in a petty job?"
Zhou Xin: "Never."
"It helps me to recount a designated topic."
Being a photo-journalist
DAYOO: "Have you considered being a reporter when you're mainly interested in photography?"
Zhou Xin: "I've considered many ways to realize my dream in photography, for example, taking pictures for magazines, or becoming a photo-journalist. I think I prefer to record things in life. That means to be a photo-journalist, because in that way I have the chance to get in touch with every aspect of life. Mankind is my favorite muse, because human nature is so diverse. Man has feelings, and man makes things, so I consider observing mankind very compelling."
DAYOO: "What were your feelings when you eventually became a photographer? Did you think you were realizing your dream?"
Zhou Xin: "I suffered from the reality, for the real life is quite different from what I had imagined. I needed time to adjust to it, for we saw many things we hadn't ever imagined. Reporters are not the kings without royal crown in contemporary society; many people are good at being conscious of news. So when you're approaching or photographing someone, often they will guard against you because they don't quite understand your intentions. I did not cope well with it at first, but I realize it's normal now. It doesn't mean to accept those things in passive way, it means to communicate with others actively so as to resolve misunderstandings."
DAYOO: "Is there any advantage for female photo-journalists in a workplace where men take the leading role? Does anything bother you?"
Zhou Xin: "I considered females more sensitive at first, but later changed my mind. The works of some male photographers are far more sensitive than mine. So it's hard to answer this question; male photographers are usually more careful in details, especially in observing. However, it's easier to be accepted when communicating with others if you're female, because you look nice to them. Also, females tend to sympathize more with hardship and they shoot with more emotion. That may be how men and women are different."
DAYOO: "Does photography record life or does it reflect man's ideas?"
Zhou Xin in the Dayoo Talk
Zhou Xin: "Both, I think. I watched lantern slides of the world's outstanding photographers in Amsterdam, and I was convulsed. It is hard to appraise pictures solely by the methods photographers use. Their value is in the content that moves the audience. Life and emotions reflected in pictures are not the propagandized things we knew before. They're extremely true, and even an unbending picture is able to tell the subject's inner world. For example, a picture (picks up a photographic book) about a Guatemalan family; maybe it wouldn't be accepted by Chinese, but the movement it recorded is very natural. Guatemalans live that way. Chinese always consider life to be sunny and nice but in reality, there's not so much happiness. I think I should tell the truth. Therefore, I turn over to myself, and many people do the same. They keep pace with the world. Turning over to myself was something I did frequently after going to Amsterdam. "
Zhou Xin's Work: Papa's Kiss
Zhou Xin's Work: Swin in Pearl River
Zhou Xin's Work: Train Station
(by Wu Weiting and David Kellaway)
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