Photos taken by Tim Yip feature his model, Lili, a doll. Photos Provided to China Daily

There are constant reports of Yip's admirable stubbornness. For example, during the shooting of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon he firmly insisted on having a window reasonably shut in the sandy weather of Beijing, while the action directors and photographers both wanted it open because a character had to fly in through it.

In such cases, Yip is lucky to have directors who follow his advice, which is not usually the case in most teamwork. Besides, it's not just the conflicts with the directors. His unconventional costume design for Li Shaohong's remake A Dream of the Red Mansions (2010), though it was done carefully with much research, made him a target of criticism.

"People see you in an orthodox way. They see your interesting character not for what it really is. Even if they sometimes like it, they don't understand you," Yip says.

That's why he never gives up photography and other forms of pure arts. Even though they may cater to a smaller audience, they are to him more thorough and freer ways of self-expression.

In the pursuit of self-expression, he now has traveled even farther. The visual artist, who once said he never believed in words, has decided to write about one subject that he can express himself to the fullest capacity - philosophy.

The Connections, the second of his book trilogy released in August, explores the meaning of traditional Chinese aesthetics and the influence from its Western counterparts.

"When I start doing these (modern arts and writing books), I feel people truly beginning to like me, people whom I can truly communicate with. I don't want commercial factors to get in between me and my audiences. I want to gradually find myself," he says.