Photographer capturing fox-like image of desert in China's Xinjiang shares story behind sensational picture

Wang Hanbing, a photographer, has captured a mesmerizing scene after a rainfall that showed something resembling an image of a fox's face formed by two puddles of water and a sharp sand ridge in the Kumukuli Desert of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The video grab show an image of a fox's face formed by two puddles of water and a sharp sand ridge in the Kumukuli Desert. (Source: China Media Group)

The 54-year-old photographer from Yuli county, which is on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, started to use cameras to capture the natural beauty of Xinjiang and offer a glimpse of the region’s folk customs as a photography graduate in 1999, having recorded a series of moments that document the improvements made to the local ecological environment in his hometown.

In 2015, Wang started to fly drones in uncontrolled areas to catch a bird's eye view of the beautiful scenery in Xinjiang, including in the Taklimakan Desert, which appears like the scales of a fish, along with the Tarim Basin, which resembles a flowing colorful ribbon, through his lens.

(Photo/CCTV News)

Wang said that more than one decade ago, his hometown was frequently hit by sandstorms, and nowadays, as the sand has been curbed, sandstorms happen less frequently and populus euphratica forests have become lush again.

Populus euphratica trees in different deserts are a major theme in the photos taken by Wang. Over the past more than two decades, the man has visited populus euphratica forests more than 200 times during different seasons and in different weather conditions, having snapped pictures of the trees at different moments in their lifecycle.

(Photo/CCTV News)

Wang noted that by taking pictures of populus euphratica trees, he wants to present the beauty of nature, and more importantly, to show the fragile ecological environment and enhance more people's awareness of environmental protection. "My pictures show the beauty of life and also warns that life perishes," said Wang.

Wang said in order to look for good angles to snap pictures of the populus euphratica trees, he had to deal with a lot of difficulties during his photography trips, including getting lost in the desert, having his car overturned, and falling into a river with icy water.

(Photo/CCTV News)

(Photo/CCTV News)

(Photo/CCTV News)