Farmers in northeast China present beauty of rural life through photography

Farmers from northeast China’s Jilin province have turned to photography, some even professionally, wowing many with their achievements in representing rural areas artistically.

Photo by Ma Xueyan, a farmer, shows a mountain in Jiaohe, northeast China's Jilin province.

67-year-old Qi Shuang, a farmer from a village in Jiaohe city, had always had a keen interest in photography. Many of Qi’s pictures have won national photography awards, and inspired by his works, a British female photographer once came to Jiaohe to take pictures of the place.

Photography has been a second career for farmers in Jiaohe since the 1990s. Currently, there are about 80 farmers like Qi, who are using their lens to present rural China to more audiences.

Photo by Qi Shuang, a farmer, shows two farmers on their way back home from a fair.

Despite starting to learn photography in 2012 at the age of 61, later than other farmers did, Ma Xueyan has shown a great deal of talent. Many of Ma’s works have won national photography competitions, and these achievements made him a member of the China Photographers Association. Besides mountains, rivers, forests and grass, Ma’s works also capture moments of farmers working in the fields.

The farmer photographers’ works present audiences with a real picture of rural China that has undergone drastic changes. Tian Yu, director of the culture center of Jiaohe city, said they are witnesses to the achievements China has made in building new villages.

Photo by Qi Shuang, a farmer, shows farmers celebrating the Spring Festival.

The works of the farmer photographers have also helped promote local tourism, said Shi Jianyi, deputy director of the city’s cultural, radio, television, and tourism bureau. “The pictures presented beautiful sceneries, and people’s lives and production, and have attracted tourists to the city,” Shi explained, saying that a valley of enchanting red leaves in Jiaohe city became a hot tourist destination after pictures of it taken by a farmer photographer went viral.

Photo by Ma Xueyan, a farmer photographer, shows farmers working in the fields.