Today we’d like to introduce you to Jiayi Liang.
Hi Jiayi, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m a photographer and videographer based in New York City.
I was born and grow up in Dalian – the “Northern Pearl” and summer resort of China, is also called ‘the football city’ and ‘the fashion city in China, it is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning Province. My hometown gave me the feeling of openness and freedom to create, I had the opportunity to see all advanced and historical things at the same time, it helped me understand things from different perspectives.
I started learning piano when I was four years old, I got the highest certification of Piano when I was 12 years old. Before I apply for college, my piano teacher encouraged me to apply for the Central Conservatory of Music in China. The Central Conservatory of Music is a prestigious leading music school in China, its campus is in Beijing, China. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Double First-Class Discipline University, with double First-Class status in certain disciplines. Each year, the Central Conservatory of Music only recruits about 300 students across the country, my major was only 21 students in the class at that time. I was lucky to get into this school, my major was musicology, musicology is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. I was focusing on the metaphor of music when I was handing in the thesis article.
I’ve been told that I was very talented in painting and drawing when I was little, I can learn painting skills quickly or taught myself casually. Meanwhile, I fell in love with watching movies when I was ten years old, I was fascinated by moving images. I observed things very carefully, all the moving images were fascinating to me, I paid much attention to the details and thought of how does the camera work and moves, how do they design and manage the lighting, how do they edit all footages, how do they compose the music, why are the actors acting like that, etc. Then I realized that I had the desire to tell stories on my own. When I had my first camera, probably in high school, I liked shooting everywhere, shooting people, objects, and scenery. At that time, I became interested in light and shadow. Later, I discovered that the light and shadow that attracted me were indeed the most important part of photography.
Later, when I was in college, my enthusiasm for photography became even stronger.
My friends and I founded a photography club at the school, regularly organizing photography activities and competitions. We’ve invited some experienced photographers to serve as judges. In the activities and communication with everyone, I have become more passionate about photography. I suddenly realized that maybe one day I can become a real photographer. It goes a long and passionate road ahead.
When I was studying musicology, I was analyzing all music sheets, music history, the culture of music, musicians’ styles, etc. The music sheet is like the script for the movie, the composer is like the screenwriter, the conductor is like the director, concert performance is like acting, I believe all arts are communicating with each other. I think my music background can support my current career in a different way, I have more confidence to understand photography and videography deeply and widely.
After I got in New York Film Academy in New York and Los Angeles, I started learning filmmaking, I was working on set as a filmmaker for a year then slowly switched to videography then professional photography.
I’ve shot for New York Fashion Week, VRAI Magazine, Global Glam Magazine, Suki Eyewear and Mott & Bayard Eyewear brands, American Composers Orchestra, etc. I’ve had four photography exhibitions in New York and Los Angeles. I’m also the cinematographer and editor for a feature documentary about the great Dr. Gao Yaojie. Meanwhile, I’m teaching photography and videography at the Rising Star Photography Society in Princeton, New Jersey.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’ve changed my paths several times until I found the right one for me, but maybe it will change again in the future. I love challenging and changing, I’d love to try new things in different fields, sometimes it’s difficult but I’m enjoying the process, I believe all struggles and difficulties will make a person stronger, just always keep moving forward, nothing is impossible.
For example, the first time when I was shooting for New York Fashion Week, it is a very competitive field for photographers and videographers, it requires lots of qualities.
First, fashion week’s schedules are tight and intense, it was hard to get the media invitation pass, it depends on the reputation of the magazine and the relationship between magazines and fashion week. Once you get the invitation, it’s not guaranteed to get access in the venue to shoot runways and backstages because the number of photographers allowed to shoot is limited as well.
Second, the platform space for media people is limited too, even though one show only allowed 20-30 photographers and videographers to get in, but the most important spot is in the middle in order to get the most central photos. In fact, everyone is squeezing with each other to get the best result, sometimes we don’t get passes until the last half of an hour before the show starts, so it required me to get on the right spot right after I get, but sometimes it’s first come first serve, the earlier you arrived the best spot you get. During the shoot, everyone must stand closely next to each other, sometimes you need to stick out the camera lens from the shoulders of the crowds of photographers, which means you probably couldn’t stay comfortably, either on your tiptoe or squat, then you need to keep the pose while shooting with your heavy camera for 15 mins until the show is over. It’s like a mid to hard-core gym exercise every time. We were making fun of we don’t need to pay gyms anymore, just come shoot fashion weeks, so you can run and work out well. Also, for quick effectiveness, we’d better select the photos that night and send them to the editor of the magazine so that our magazine can get the fastest exposure. Usually, we only slept 2-3 hours per day during the shooting weeks.
When the editor received my photos and published them in the magazine with my credit, when my work got appreciated by the designers and models, I felt it was the most rewarding part of my work.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a photographer, videographer, and video editor.
I’ve shot for Suki Eyewear, Mott & Bayard Eyewear, VRAI Magazine, Global Glam Magazine
Rosario Dawson, Bill Nye, Dominic Fumusa, Carson Kressley, David Byrne, Alex Lundqvist, Simon Doonan, Jesse Palmer, Lee Tergesen, Mike Woods, Elvis Duran, etc.
I have to mention my feature documentary: The Brilliant Star – A Documentary of Gao Yaojie, it’s one of my most proud projects.
Gao Yaojie is a Chinese gynecologist, academic, and AIDS activist in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China. Gao has been honored for her work by the United Nations and Western organizations and had spent time under house arrest. Her split with the Chinese authority on the transmission and the seriousness of the AIDS epidemic in China hinders her further activities and resulted in her leaving for the United States in 2009. She is now living alone in uptown Manhattan, New York City. Gao is well known for her writings and visits to Henan villages to educate people on HIV/AIDS prevention and for her work on behalf of the many children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Henan Province, home to 100 million people. In 2001, Gao was awarded the Jonathan Mann Award for Health and Human Rights, she was also designated one of the “Ten People Who Touched China in 2003” by China Central Television. In 2002, she was named Time Magazine’s Asian Heroine. Gao was awarded the “Global Leadership Award, Women Changing Our World” by the Vital Voices Global Partnership on March 14, 2007. On September 20, 2007, the New York Academy of Sciences gave her “The Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award.” In 2007, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid No. 38980 after Dr. Gao.
My original intention for making this documentary was to document Gao Yaojie’s life in the United States in her elderly years and wanted people to have a more comprehensive understanding of this great old doctor and her ups and downs in her life. In other official documentaries or media interviews, people see more of Gao Yaojie’s passion. She is such a tough woman, she is always fighting for the AIDS people and orphans. In order to let everyone understand the facts, she is always full of passion with her loud and strong voice. Even in the United States, she is still missing the people of her motherland. In our documentary, we want to add more tender emotions, get closer to her life, put aside the perspective that the public is talking about, and interview the great woman from a more tender perspective. I shot more than 30 times over two years, 1-2 times per month on average, mostly in Gao’s apt located in Upper West, Manhattan, because she’s unable to move around often due to her health condition. Sometimes we shot the environment of her building, interviewed several other important people for the documentary, or I went to shoot B roll shots on my own as we needed. I went to hospitals with Gao for her regular checkups as well, that is really precious footage.
This documentary was screened in New York and New Jersey in 2019.
I’ve also shot the book cover of a book about Dr. Gao. I’m aware that Hillary Clinton was the person who invited Gao Yaojie to come in and live in the United States. In 2019, Hillary Clinton had visited Gao Yaojie unexpectedly, coincidentally, right after the publication of the book. It is worth mentioning that, The Oral History of Gao Yaojie has been selected in Top Ten Good Books in Chinese by Asia Weekly (Yazhou Zhoukan) Non-fiction genre. Because I’m following Hillary’s Instagram, I saw that she posted a photo with Dr. Gao on March 12, 2019, Dr. Gao was highly holding the book that I shot the book cover for. I was shocked and amazed at the moment when I saw the post. I can’t believe that my work has the chance to be posted by such an important politician.
New York Fashion Week has been special to me, I still feel lucky to be selected as a media photographer for the fashion week, the magazine needs to get an invitation by each show, then the magazine assigns each photographer to cover the show with a specific pass only, so there is much less chance to photographers, the bigger brand shows the less chance.
I have a unique perspective to observe details that others may not see, I’m also attentive and patient, it makes me calm most of the time. My photo and video works can reflect this quality of my personality as well.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Many people said I have a good eye for catching moments when it comes to photography. To be honest, in the beginning, I didn’t think much, I just liked to take photos of things, people, animals, scenes… almost everything. But after a while, especially after I presented them to the other people, I got incredible feedback, I never thought my photos can leave such deep impressions on others. Then I started thinking, if photography is not purely for self-entertainment and enjoyment, then what’s more meaning of photography? I started looking for my own talent and my strengths.
I’m good at observing, I am very good at capturing things that people might don’t care about, but when my photos come out, it’s shocking. My favorite field is documentary photography, I think photos have power, a good photo can touch people’s hearts and influence society. My ability to adapt to changes is also very strong. I believe that with my professional ability and adaptability, I can contribute to almost every field of photography and videography, whether it is fashion, documentary, news, or entertainment, I can quickly adapt to the specific requirements of each field.
My goal is to hope that my work can be helpful to society. When people see my photos or videos, it can arouse their contemplation and think about the meaning behind the photo. Maybe everyone has different opinions, so if there are different comments and controversies, it may indicate that my goal has been achieved.
Besides coming up with new ideas, creating better photos and videos, accomplishing the clients’ goals and desires, learning more knowledge and technology, I think my favorite experience so far would be the opportunities to meet more great people and hear more various stories, it’s also one of the reasons I chose to be freelancer photographer and videographer when I’m getting a new project, which also means I can meet the new people, probably in a different field, the living itself might be tough as a freelancer in the beginning, but I have more chances to go anywhere and meet anyone, they inspire me a lot, my world is bigger.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.jiayi-liang.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jyl_llgl/
Image Credits:
Sej Saraiya, Shiyu Lin.
