Chinese photographer's focus on water on display in London

A photograph of water in Qin Yuhai’s ‘Ebb and Flow’ exhibition, to be shown at Saatchi Gallery from 11 -15 June 2014 [Provided to China Daily]

Water for most people may not be worth a thought, but Chinese photographer Qin Yuhai sees it as the essence of life and he will be sharing his unique perspective on water through a photography exhibition at London's prestigious Saatchi Gallery in June.

Zelda Cheatle [By Cecily Liu/China Daily]

The exhibition, which runs from June 11-15, is titled ‘Ebb and Flow'. It features a collection of 17 photographs Qin took of water, showing the water's pattern of flow and how light is reflected and refracted on the water surface.

The photographs are in different colors, including green, brown and blue, resulting from different objects being reflected on or below the water surface. The surface of water also shows ripples in very natural curves, sometimes looking almost like calligraphy.

Qin was born in 1953 in Heilongjiang Province. He has won many awards, with the most recent being an award at the China Pingyao International Photography festival for his water collection, which exhibited at the National Art Museum of China. Qin's photographs on water are taken in Mount Yuntai, in China's Henan Province.

Zelda Cheatle, curator of the exhibition, says she hopes visitors of the exhibition will be inspired to think about water in a different way.

"We can't survive without water. What Qin's done, is to pursue the state of being, so if you're in the presence of water, you're surrounded by water, what you're giving to other people in making these prints is that you're communicating your ideas on water as life, as philosophy, as Zen," Cheatle says.

The notion of Zen is an important part of China's Daoism Zen school. Considering water as life's mater. The Zen school of thought teaches its followers to perceive themselves as being a part of nature.

It is this importance of Zen in the Chinese culture that has shaped Qin's view of water. In his photographs, water is very much alive.

Cheatle has worked extensively in the photography industry, first in London's Photographers Gallery, and then starting her own gallery in 1989. In 2005, she started the first photography fund, and now she is a judge for many international photography awards and is a curator for many photography shows.

As one so experienced in the field of photography, Cheatle praised Qin's photography techniques. She says Qin's colourful photographs are completely natural and reflects the purity of water in the artist's mind.

"Water is colorless, so it'll be a reflection of the shadow underneath. What he's photographing is what he found in camera," Cheatle says.

Cheatle adds that taking these photographs require tremendous patience, because Qin probably had to wait for a long time until the sun is shining on the part of water he wants to photograph at the right angle, and he would only have "moments" to capture the images before the sunlight changes.

When Cheatle first took on the curator challenge, she was given hundreds of photographs by Qin to choose from. She says she originally wanted to choose more of Qin's earlier works, which were simpler, but the final selection had more of Qin's later works with the artist's suggestion.

"He wanted it to be more reflective of his most recent work. I think it reflects who he is and how he is in 2014," Cheatle says, adding that it is quite common for artists to feel that their last works are the best.

"I first curated the show in a version not as dark, and the narrative was simpler. It was changed a bit and it's what the artist wanted, but if you're seeing the photos for the first time you'd never know there's a more colorful, more calming journey before," she says.

Cheatle says she hopes the exhibition will help to communicate the importance of water in Chinese culture to a Western audience, as the medium of photography is well suited to the task.

"They're so big that it's like you're diving into the picture. You get completely lost in that feeling of communicating with water and the state of oneness," she says.

Ebb and Flow will be exhibited at London's Saatchi Gallery from June 11-15.

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