Photographer No 223 stages solo in Beijing

Born in 1979 in Shantou, Guangdong province, South China, Lin graduated from the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies with a degree in financial English. In 2003, while working as a magazine editor, he began sharing photographs and accompanying texts on his blog. His distinctive style quickly attracted millions of views, earning him both widespread online recognition and, eventually, international acclaim.

The year 2025 marks a vibrant and productive period for the Beijing-based artist as he celebrates two decades of photographic work. Eight solo exhibitions have been and are being held worldwide in his honor, including a mid-career retrospective at Guangzhou's Kui Yuan Gallery, shows in Milan and at Paris Photo in November, and two solo exhibitions at the Three Shadows.

RongRong & inri noted that Lin's creative practice resonates with the lineage of Shi-Shashin, or "I-Photography", a genre of Japanese photography characterized by its intensely personal and subjective perspective, focusing on the photographer's own life and inner world rather than public subjects. Photographers such as Masahisa Fukase, Nobuyoshi Araki, and Daido Moriyama are known for their direct and revealing expressions of inner emotions, sexuality, and familial themes.

They also praised Lin's tremendous initiative and commitment to growing his artistic practice.

Unlike those Japanese photographers who thrived in part thanks to various programs in Japan aimed at discovering and nurturing emerging artists and the country's distinctive culture of photo magazines and photobooks, No 223, by using fashion magazines, personal blogs, and zines as autonomous tools, developed his practice entirely through self-initiated effort, they remarked.

Vision Infra-mince runs until Oct 19.

From 10 am-6 pm, closed on Mondays. Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, 155 A Caochangdi, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-6432-2663