Tajik heritage in focus

Her portfolios mainly consist of portraits in which models are usually photographed against a background of natural scenery on the Pamir Plateau, wearing traditional clothes in saturated colors. The photos show a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. The images, thoughtfully composed, are able to produce soft and atmospheric appearance akin to classic Western oil paintings.

Li has also used her camera to record the scenes of Tajik people's everyday lives, such as women baking nang bread in the kitchen or doing laundry near a spring; a nomad family cutting grass to prepare fodder for winter; a bride posing in her wedding dress; and boys helping their families with farm work in the harvest season.

"I try to not only capture their ethnic garments, body languages and the tools they use for production on a daily basis, but also rigorously probe into their spiritual life," says Li.

Her photography project was subsidized by the China National Arts Fund from 2015 to 2017. And she won the 13th Golden Statue Award for China Photography, the highest award for photographers in the country, in 2020.

Her photographs have been collected by many art institutions and collectors overseas.

Last month, she also attended the 11th National Congress of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles in Beijing as a delegate.

"Li's long-term commitment to creating photography works in the vast habitat of the Tajik ethnic group has highlighted the uniqueness of each individual from the group by presenting in details their garments, facial expressions and even inner feelings," comments Liu Xiangchen, a photographer and director who has made documentaries on Xinjiang's folk customs and ethnic cultures.