ARITIST
Li Fan is a Chinese photographer, Dean of Institute of Silk Road Photographic Art and professor at Shaanxi Normal University. In his youth, he was engaged in competitive sports and root carving art, and now devotes himself to the practice and education of photography. Over the years, he has won the China Photography Golden Statue Award, the gold medal of China National Photography Art Exhibition, the China National College Photography Education, the gold medal of the China International Press Photo Contest (CHIPP), the Top Ten Chinese Portrait Photographers, and the first prize of the Professional Category of Sony World Photography Awards twice. From 2002 to 2022, he held more than 30 exhibitions in China and overseas.
Li Fan, engaging in photography for more than 40 years, is committed to recording and depicting social development and regional civilization through photography, while exploring the contemporary image expression of humanities. Pursuing the concept of "Piously record, artistically express", Li Fan has photographed many countries and regions along the ancient Silk Road in an humanistic approach, creating the brand of "Li Fan Silk Road Photos", and has published three Silk Road Photo albums of "Under Bengali Sky", "Yi People on the Liangshan Mountains" and "Muslims of Arid Soil".
For more than 30 years, from university classes, photography lectures to photography training camps, Li Fan has been engaged in photography education, many of his students have become excellent photographers.
Li Fan founded The Fan Studio in 2002, the "FanForm" photography brand and the FanForm Gallery in 2009, and in 2019, he founded the FanForm Space that integrates a photography studio and a gallery .
Li Fan and his team introduce and promote the classic works of outstanding international photographers and high-quality photo printing, guide and tutor young photographers, enhance viewers' photography appreciation and aesthetics, in an effort to "use photography to communicate with the world, and dedicate the world with classic works".
Website: www.lifanphoto.com
Weibo: @李泛LiFan
Instagram: @lifanphoto
Twitter: @LiFanPhoto
Publications
Muslims of Arid Soil
Yi People on the Liangshan Mountains
Under Bengali Sky
Honors and Awards
The 8th Chinese Golden Statue Award for Photography, 2009
The 7th Top Ten Chinese Portrait Photographers, 2012
Gold Award of the 20th China National Photographic Art Exhibition, 2002
First Place, Lifestyle Category, Professional competition, Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA) , 2015
Gold Award, the 11th China International Press Photo Competition (CHIPP) , 2015
Grand Award, 2002 Epson Annual Chinese Portraits Grand Competition, 2002
First Award, National Geography Photo Contest, China Group, 2010
Shortlisted in the documentary category of Masters Award, Hasselblad International Photography Competition 2011-2012, 2011
Served as
Judge of the 13th and 11th Chinese Golden Statue Award for Photography, 2020 and 2016
Judge of the 8th Top Ten Chinese Portrait Photographers, 2015
Judge of the 24th China National Photographic Art Exhibition, 2013
Exhibitions
2023 Cement Factory, Diocesan Museum of Milan, Milan, Italy.
2023 Cement Factory, Sony Imagine Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
2023 Cement Factory, Somerset House, London, Uk.
2023 Li Fan Classic Collection, Photo Shanghai, Shanghai
2022 Yi People on the Liangshan Mountains, Shanghai International Photography Festival 2022, China
2022 People Along the Yangtze River, Luzhou Photography Art Biennale, China
2021 Li Fan Classic Collection, 2021 Lishui Photography Festiaval, Lishui, China
2018 Yi People on the Liangshan Mountains, the Third Shenzhen International Photography Week, Shenzhen, China
2018 Under Bengali Sky, Pau, France
2017 Under Bengali Sky, Cui Zhenkuan Art Museum, Xi’an, China
2016 Under Bengali Sky, Xi’an Qujiang Book City, Xi’an, China
2016 Under Bengali Sky, Sony U Space, Beijing, China
2016 The Tajiks in China, Somerset Palace, London, U.K.
2016 The Left-behind Children in Western China, Somerset Palace, London, U.K.
2015 Ethnic Minorities in Western China, Silk Road Cultural Festival, Gyeongju, Korea
2015 Yi People on the Liangshan Mountains, Somerset Palace, London, U.K.
2014 Ten Years of Photographic Exploration of Ethnic Yi People in Liangshan (2004-2014), First Chang’an Photographic Festival, Donguan, China
2014 Ten Years of Photographic Exploration of Ethnic Yi People in Liangshan (2004-2014), LonGallery, Beijing, China
2012 The Heaviness of Life: Li Fan’s Photographic Works, Xi’an Arts Museum, Xi’an, China
2012 Christianity in Yunnan, China, China (Qinghai) Sanjiangyuan International Photography Festival, Xining, China
2012 The Look of Existence: Li Fan’s Photographic Works, Beijing Epson Photo Gallery, Beijing, China
2011 Christianity in Yunnan, China, Beijing Jingyuan Photography Festival, Beijing, China
2011 Christianity in Yunnan, China, Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China
2010 Ethnic Yi People in Liangshan, China, representing Chinese Photographers Association at Arles Photography Festival, Arles, France
2010 Ethnic Yi People in Liangshan, China, Dali International Photography Festival, Dali, China
2009 Folk Sports in China, Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France
2008 Ethnic Yi People in Liangshan, China, Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club, Hong Kong, China
2007 Ethnic Yi People in Liangshan, China, Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China
2003 Joint Exhibition of “Love of Millennium, an exhibition by photographers from across the Taiwan Straits”, representing Chinese Photographers Association, Taipei, China
2002 The Enchanting and Captivating Tibet, Xi’an Public Art Center, Xi’an, China