No. 223: A Diary of Playful Innocence

North Latitude is a website by Lin Zhipeng, aka “No. 223”. He created it in 2004, during the rise of internet culture. It served as an outlet for him to share his thoughts. A place with less restriction than typical Chinese mainstream media.

Through his photographs and brief texts, he has become a leading figure in contemporary Chinese photography. His work reflects a collective diary of a young hedonistic generation wishing to escape the rigid rules of mainstream Chinese society.

In a conversation with him, he shared his creative journey and his need to convey younger generation stories through his lens. We also talked about the evolution of the world in a post-pandemic reality.

Photo credit: Lin Zhipeng

What was your first approach to photography? Do you remember where you were and what it was like?

 When I was at University, I used my older sister's camera to practice photography. My first job was working in media as an editor and at the same time I started approaching many visual artists and magazines. I started taking photos as my hobby. In 2004, I bought a film camera for myself and started taking photos of my friends. I was actually very young at the time so I started documenting my life and the people I was connecting with. We hung out, smoked, went to parties, and camped in the park. I was documenting our life and posting photo diaries on my blog, for mainstream people.  

What is the role of indulgence in your visual philosophy?

 Can I say it's some kind of FREEDOM? I don't like the conventional way to create art. I always like to capture unusual moments in everyday life. But I can't explain what is unusual about it. 

How has your style evolved from where you started to where you are now?

 When I started, I didn't know what kind of images I would take. At the beginning, I took a lot of street photos. But when I hung out with my friends and took pictures for them (also included myself), I noticed that my friends are super creative when they are involved in my lens. I think it's an easy way to create my art. My art is about my experience, I also photograph my travels, any moment when I am on the road.

Photo credit: Lin Zhipeng

Tell us about the inspiration behind capturing a not so mainstream side of  Chinese generations in a context that the western world has never seen before? 

My life and my experience inspire me. I am a typical person who grew up in the internet generation. The Internet is much more open than traditional media ( at least in China) , so I can be pretty free to share my life. I worked on social media for my personal magazine. During my blog phase, I got many followers that included many creative and artsy people. I also got invitations to exhibitions from galleries and curators. Then I got into the art world step by step.

In which way does your personal environment shape your work?

I don't have much ambition and plan for my art. I just follow my heart to create works. I photograph what I am experiencing. I would not even feel sad if I don't have any passion for creating in the future. 

Can you guide us a little into your creative process?

 Most of the time, I take photos at random and extempore. I don't like to plan for any shooting in advance. Usually when I get new ideas /inspiration , I mark them down in my phone. When I am shooting, I probably pick the idea from my phone and use it!

Thinking of how the world changed in the past year, what behaviours have you noticed in the younger people that you are looking forward to portraying?

 During the pandemic period, most people were keeping social distance indeed. But now in China, there's no pandemic, people can get closer again.

Photo credit: Lin Zhipeng

In your written work and through your images, you speak a lot about the middle class dream. How do you think the dream is different from what it used to be 10 years ago?

 Now this dream is not a dream anymore, it's becoming reality. We can see China is developing super fast, it's completely different compared to the past 10 years.

If you could choose just one image and a caption to describe what the world ahead will look like, what would they be?

An image with half black and half white. Humans are always staying in a contradiction, just like two kinds of contrasting colors. Some are more full of hate, but I would like to believe that there are still more humans who are into peace and kindness.

What is next for you, any exciting projects you can tell us about?

I am starting an art project to portrait 100 boys in China. Actually it's not only about portraits, it's all about different boys' life and story. I will not only shoot the portrait, also document every boy's life details/ scene / stuff / body.