"I want people to shed their preconceptions about Xinjiang and it’s capital Urumqi, I want to show the cool side of Xinjiang, a side I’m calling Urooklyn." Ma Hailun
Leaving Xinjiang at just 18 years old, Ma Hailun 马海伦 completed her BFA & MPS at New York’s School of Visual Arts, New York. Since finishing her studies she has become a successful fashion photographer, with clients such as Burberry and Nike responding to her innovative, distinctive vision.
"I was born and raised in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, and went to New York to study photography and fashion photography. During my degree, I had some questions about myself and the genre I was studying. Although I’m not tired and do not reject the high fashion style for the sake of it, I realised this world was far from my life. Therefore I wanted to re-establish my relationship with the subject and to create my own approach, my own language."
"I hope my work can open doors and let people know the real Xinjiang from a new perspective, the beautiful scenery in the pictures or the kind Uygur grandpa or aunt that you can Google on the Internet. At the same time, it also enables the native Xinjiang people to have a deeper understanding of the beauty of it and discover those things that we take for granted but are not so common. I want to build a bridge in the communication and exchange between ethnic groups. The people living on this land are not people of Han, Uygur or Kazak, but people of Xinjiang. Recently, I went to northern Xinjiang to shoot a series of works about Kazakh herdsmen and their lives. I think, I will stick to it, with my way of expression to interpret the ethnic minorities and Xinjiang."
