Chen Man

Born in Beijing in 1980, Chen Man grew up after the Cultural Revolution and was part of the generation of the Chinese one-child policy. Chen attended the Central Academy of Fine Arts and graduated in 2005, where she studied graphic design. At the age of 23, she published her self-styled photography as covers for Chinese art magazine VISION, bringing her immediate prominence for the first time as a student. Her early style includes extensive use of digital tools such as Photoshop and 3D Max to create an extravagant visual experience. Man is also known for her hyper-realistic pop portraits like her 2012 "Whatever the Weather" covers. The series features an unsigned model and Tibetan teenagers from the Tibetan High School, an ethnic college. Man wanted to capture the "50 to 60 ethnic groups" that represent the beauty in China in her 12 photograph series for i-D. To Man there are two ways of defining beauty and she finds "both sides of the coin beautiful. She believes in genuine beauty, "what feels real whether it's an emotion, an image, a person or an artwork" and technological beauty, like the beauty of phones and computers. With the tendency to look abroad for inspiration, Man is hoping that her work will encourage people to rethink beauty and start looking "to China for inspiration." ==Career==