An incredible focus on the ordinary

He then paid multiple visits to local train stations for several years to document passengers' struggle in their trek, especially during travel rushes like Spring Festival, to meet their families.

"What moves me most, though, is the layered sense of time. Years ago, I was one of those students hauling bags through the station in Guangzhou. Now, standing behind the camera, I wonder if one of these frames unknowingly holds my younger self?" he says.

He has shown his works in the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom and Indonesia, and has won multiple international photography awards, including the GUP Magazine's Fresh Eyes International Talents 2024 from the Netherlands and the Royal Photographic Society Documentary Photography Awards from the UK in 2023.

Despite professional recognition, Yan says he has never considered himself an artist and still keeps his regular job, which he says has enabled him to focus more on what truly interests him, as it offers a stable income that saves him from worrying about finances.

"I have no formal training in photography. Half the technical settings still baffle me. But what I do know is this: What matters isn't how you shoot but why you shoot," he says.

"My friends don't discuss art over drinks. My coworkers talk about pensions, mortgages, the grind. Living knee-deep in these realities sharpened my eye for what actually weighs on people's minds."