Influenced by her own experience of cultural dislocation, Berlin-based photographer Mengyu Zhou captures tender, personal portraiture of the Asian diaspora. Working primarily in the analogue, her image-making is both a meditative and transformative process – a means to interrogate and more deeply connect to her sense of heritage. Her recent series, “Asianess” explores the multitudes of ways that individuals chose to present their Asian identity, particularly when placed within and influenced by western contexts.
01 THE MOMENT THAT MADE ME FIRST FALL IN LOVE WITH IMAGE-MAKING WAS
when I developed my first roll of film.
02 I STARTED MY PERSONAL PROJECT "ASIANESS*" BECAUSE
I wanted to start a conversation. I moved to Germany at the age of 15 without speaking a word of German. As a teenager who was developing an identity, my Asianess became something I was ashamed of. This project feels like a healing process for me, to photograph and have conversations with people that share a similar experience. The experience of trying to belong and ultimately not arriving there, later to realise and celebrate your own culture and heritage – wherever you find yourself.
*One of Mengyu's images from that project.
03 A PHOTOGRAPH THAT ALWAYS BRINGS ME JOY
an image from "The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of their Dreams" by Alessandra Sanguinetti*.
*Depicted here.
04 THE PROCESS I FIND THE MOST REWARDING IS
to work with film and spend time in the darkroom printing my images.
05 ART I WISH I HAD CREATED
"The Sky Ladder" by Chinese, multi-disciplinary artist, Cai Guo-Qiang*.
*Pictured here.
06 THE OBJECT I HAVE TREASURED THE LONGEST IS
my diaries, which I kept for almost two decades.
07 I WAS MOSTLY RECENTLY INSPIRED BY
the wild beauty of Cornwall.
08 IF I WEREN'T A PHOTOGRAPHER, I WOULD
run a tea house in West lake*, Hangzhou, China.
*A picture of West lake, taken by Mengyu.
MENGYU'S FAVOURITE THINGS
01 "New Photography 2023" at Moma: an exhibition she can't wait to visit.
02 The "Akari" ring in gold vermeil.
03 "Larb Koi" in Berlin: the last restaurant she ate at and loved.
04 "Norlha Atelier", the independent business she adores.
05 "The Lover" by Marguerite Duras: the book she's currently reading.