Carefully crafted 'selfies' become fascinating works of art that demand a closer look, Wang Qian reports.

A self-portrait from photographer Liu Ziqian's Reflection 2 collection. Liu's work is considered to have elevated the selfie in a bid to display harmony between humans and nature, and to offer alternative perspectives for people to ponder. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

A selfie is, by definition, of the self. It is an image taken by the image taker. The word, like the technology used, may be modern, but looking at a self-image is steeped in history and myth.

In Greek mythology there is Narcissus who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. He pined away in despair until he finally died of thirst. Immortality was granted when he turned into the flower which bore his name.

It is a field of activity ripe to be exploited by an artist.

Liu Ziqian has stepped up to the challenge. She has elevated the selfie to achieve, she says, harmony between humans and nature, and to offer alternative perspectives for people to ponder. 

With her photos, she has not only garnered numerous followers on Instagram and Sina Weibo but also won critical acclaim. As an emerging, promising artist, she exhibited at the Exhibition of Photography in Reality and Instagram Continuum in Hong Kong, which took place in March and April 2019, and at the Ethereal: A Daily Poetry in the international photo expo in Paris in May 2019.

She was selected among the top 30 women photographers under 30 this year by Artpil, an international organization with a focus on modern and contemporary art.

"Ziqian Liu is a freelance photographer from China. She caught our attention with her gentle, feminine self-portraits, where she plays with flowers, food and everyday objects," writes Artpil on its website.

Another piece from Reflection 2. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Liu turns ordinary items, such as pieces of fruit and a mirror, into extraordinary works of art. They demand attention, to be looked at, and once seen they stay in the memory.

Hiding her face and playing with shadow and reflection, the Shanghai-based freelance photographer turns the lens on herself, creating "a small world, which is still, but not plain", according to Liu.

"Entering the world I created, I hope that viewers can seek a moment of calm and peace," says the 30-year-old.

"These self-portraits are a channel for my emotions and taking them calms me down," Liu says, adding that concealing her face can make it easier for viewers to get involved in her work, because the protagonist, in the viewers' eyes, can be anyone.

Although referring to herself as "unprofessional", she has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram for her tender and fragmented photos. On Chinese micro-blogging platform Sina Weibo, she has about 50,000 followers.

Many users on the latter are amazed by her self-portraits, commenting that they "seem so simple at first, but when viewed more closely, they are clearly thought out and detail-oriented".Some of her Instagram followers have produced creative paintings from her self-portraits.

Her work has also drawn the attention of galleries at both home and abroad. Three of her pieces are on display at a group exhibition, House of the Rising Light, in both London and Rome, hosted by the Dorothy Circus Gallery, from July 30 to Sept 18.

"Liu's photographs are always pervaded by a sense of quietness and the elaborated and playful perspectives are a distinctive feature of the artist's introspective compositions," according to the gallery.

One from her Paper collection. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Snapping into focus

Liu's art education started from her childhood when she learned dancing, drawing and flute. She studied in London for her bachelor's degree, then obtained her master's degree at the University of Technology, Sydney, and graduated with a major in communication management. When she came back home, she tried to figure out what she wanted to do for a living.

For a year or two, she traveled with her friends to different countries, during which time she bought her first camera. She found that photography would relieve her nerves and anxiety. That was where her career really started.

Preferring solitude, she began to use the camera to record her life.

Every day, after visualizing an image that she wants to create in her mind, she takes pictures, usually by connecting her smartphone to the camera wirelessly and controlling it remotely.

Among dozens of images, it may be just one picture that will satisfy her.

Many of her shots are reflective, with a mirror. But the camera is never seen. Her rule is to "never point your camera directly toward a mirror".

"Although the process is convoluted, I enjoy it as a way to communicate with myself, which helps me discover who I really am," Liu says, adding that focusing on the photography allows her to break free of restraint.

After about a year or so, she decided to drop the facial element. It tended to catch the viewer's attention to the detriment of the full composition. She started to take self-portraits without showing her face.

Liu on the street in Shanghai. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

"I think the body is as important as the face and is worth recording. Through my work, I want to show that women are soft and delicate outside, while strong inside," Liu says.

She has released 14 series of self-portraits, with two main themes highlighted－the symbiosis between people and nature, and seeing things from different and unusual perspectives.

"The former means that humans and the rest of the natural world are equal; since we live in the same world and breathe the same air, mutual tolerance is required," Liu says, adding that she tries to find a state of harmony between people and nature in which beauty will be embodied.

The latter refers to looking at the same thing from different angles－something which is represented by the use of mirrors.

"Things we are familiar with often remain in a fixed image, but I am trying to convey through my work that if we look at the same thing from different angles, there will be different findings. This does not just apply to objects, but also aids in the understanding of others and our own hearts," Liu explains.

She admits that she has always longed for symmetry and perfect order, where everything is in balance, which cannot exist in the real world.

"The reflection of the mirror expresses the fusion of the reality and the world in my mind," she says.

Liu concludes that on her artistic journey, the current challenge she faces is how to maintain her photography style without repeating herself.

Contact the writer at wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn