Today we’d like to introduce you to May Xiong.
Hi May, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My photography journey began when I was given a camera for my fifteenth birthday. I didn’t expect much from it other than it being a gift. But everything changed when music became a big part of my life. It shifted something in me. From that moment on, everything else followed.
Music became a translator for my visual language through photography. The inner layers of grief, joy, longing, and wonder. As a teenager, it guided me through the quiet corners of my neighborhood out in the countryside, through streets both familiar and unknown. That’s when I began to see the world differently, especially through light. Once I found myself to understand light in an organic way, it became the foundation for how I move through a space/environment, both in life and in my work.
Photography quickly became an extension of my inner world, a cathartic release I’d say. It helped me make sense of my mental landscape and, over time, offered others a way to look in, even if only in fragments. That act of self-preservation, curiousity to explore a visual language and self-expression, has continued to shape my path as a photographer. It’s what continues to move me through this medium today.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t always been the smoothest road, that’s for sure. For the longest time, I struggled with learning how to value my self-worth, my work and my time. I grew up believing that saying yes to everything was the way to earn respect, to feel seen, to prove I belonged in the creative industry. I thought the need to know everything and the constant availability would be the key to being valued. But the truth is, the external validation never felt truly right – it never landed in a way that felt real or lasting. I knew that if I was going to feel fulfilled through this medium, it was going to be creating work that feels the most true to me. And since then, I haven’t looked back.
There have been moments where I’ve felt my time, my creative vision, and my energy were being taken for granted or not taken into consideration at all. The hardest part was that I often didn’t realize it until it was too late. And that’s where the real work began: learning how to set boundaries, both personal and professional, so I could move through the industry with clarity, intention, and understand my own self-worth as an artist.
There is no rule book on how to be an artist because it’ll always be a learning process, but I’ve learned that protecting your artistic integrity and honoring your own creative rhythm isn’t selfish, it’s necessary.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a photographer, my work lives in the space between portraiture and narrative. I’ve always been drawn to portraits and how they hold a person still in time, but equally to landscapes, and the quiet stories they tell.
It wasn’t until I discovered the haunting and beautiful photography work of Gregory Crewdson, that I began to understand the style of photography I was meant to pursue. There’s something about his images; the stillness, the mystery, the sense that you’re witnessing a moment just before or just after something pivotal – that has always stayed with me. His work feels voyeuristic in the most honest way: it invites you in, even when you’re not quite sure what you’re being asked to see. It all resonated with how I saw the world and it just clicked.
As an observer and someone who is deeply inspired by music & film scores, I’ve always been drawn to quieter moments that feel both intimate and expansive, where mood, atmosphere, and emotion quietly intersect. Music has always had a way of transcending me into a realm of imagination that always surprises me. For me, it blurs the line between reality and a dream-like state, giving shape to the soft, surreal visions I’ve come to create over time. The act of exploring that space, alongside myself, has remained a vital part of my creative process.
I’ve spent most of my life battling mental health – that internal landscape, the weight of isolation, the absence of connection, has quietly shaped how I see the world and ultimately has woven itself into the DNA of my photographs. I’m drawn to dissecting that loneliness and focusing on the stillness, the quiet tension between presence and absence. That space in between, where emotion lingers unspoken, is where my work often lives. It becomes part of the breath you take before witnessing something. You’re either prepared for it, or you’re not. And that’s the kind of magic that moves me when photographing. Having the intrinsic ability to explore the unspoken dialogue between a subject and their surrounding environment, is where I find the truest form of myself. It’s where a fleeting moment becomes grand, quietly monumental even, and you’re left with a kind of magic only you can see. As Gregory Crewdson once said, “To me the most powerful moment in the whole process is when everything comes together and there is that perfect, beautiful, still moment. And for that instant, my life makes sense.” – And it does exactly that for me. Over time, it only made sense that my instinct for noticing what lives between the quieter moments would become my signature style: cinematic narrative portraiture.
Over the years, I’m proud to say that I’ve stayed rooted in authenticity. I believe it takes grit to hold onto your own self-expression, especially when trends make it easy to sway. There were plenty of moments I could’ve followed the crowd, but it never felt true to who I am. I believe that creating from an honest place allows the work to reflect real truth and there’s pride in knowing you’re filling your own cup first. That kind of integrity can’t be manufactured, and it’s what keeps the work meaningful, true, and aligned with who you are.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what sets my work apart, but in a technical and creative approach, I believe it’s my use of ultra-wide compositions, a distinctive color palette, and an intuitive grasp of light that brings depth, emotion, and atmosphere to my photographs.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
There has definitely been times where I felt risks were being taken. Those moments usually came from pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, especially when a project called for something unfamiliar. But that’s just the name of the game.
I realized quickly that risk isn’t fixed, it shifts depending on the context. Over time, I’ve learned to build a process that works for me, even if it doesn’t make sense to anyone else. Taking chances often leads to valuable lessons, and that’s part of the process. There’s a balance between knowing and not knowing, and that space is where curiosity grows and real learning happens. I’d say don’t shut yourself off from it completely, and be open to it from time to time, because you’ll never know where it’ll lead you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mayxiong.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abstract_numbers/
Image Credits
Copyright © 2025 May Xiong. All rights reserved.
