Journey of discovery

Photographer Ma Liang waves a toy chicken to make clients smile while shooting pictures for them. Zou Zhongpin / China Daily

Since February, Ma Liang, aka Maleonn, and his team have been touring China's cities and offering free portrait photos. Xu Jingxi reports in Guangzhou.

Dressed in an olive green army uniform, a middle-aged man jumps about with a toy gun in his hand, relishing his childhood memory of pretending to be a soldier. His female friends search around in a wardrobe of 60 costumes for something suitable to be photographed in.

Ma Liang, a Chinese photographer and painter who is better known as Maleonn, is providing whimsical settings for his subjects to let loose their imaginations and strike creative poses.

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The 40-year-old photographer has a fierce look, with a clean shaven head, big eyes, a goatee braided into a plait, two heavy silver chains hanging over his neck and a big tattoo carved on his right arm.

However, he puts on a funny face and waves around a toy chicken to make clients smile, and when they ask for his signature on a photo he smiles broadly.

He has been traveling across China since Feb 17 to offer a photo shoot service, free of charge. He calls it a gift to his fans and a world that "needs more positive energy".

"I embarked on the journey to prove that interpersonal interactions can be simple and warm, without money or doubt involved," Ma says.

"I take a photo to thank you for loving my works, and you give me a bottle of water to thank me for traveling so far away to deliver the gift. Both of us are happy."

He is upset that people nowadays will hesitate to help an old man falling on the road because of the fear of being blackmailed.

Ma and his six-member team carry all the props and costumes in a truck on their tour of 35 Chinese cities.

They set up a temporary photo studio at places suggested by friends who are locals. An old bus, the backyard of a villa and an exhibition hall have all been transformed into studios to welcome people who found out about the activity on Sina Weibo, China's answer to Twitter.

After finishing the photo shoot in Guangzhou on Sept 22, Ma has taken photos of more than 1,300 people. He selected the best of 100 shots, printed them out and carefully put them into frames he designed.

Having been on the road for eight months, Ma and his team are on course to visit five cities until the end of October.

Though the world-renowned photographer's works can cost more than 100,000 yuan ($15,900) each, he is on the verge of bankruptcy after investing about 1 million yuan in a mobile photo studio.

Even so, he doesn't ask for money from clients at the photo studio and has also turned down donations.

"We need complete, clean romanticism. I want to prove that we can give without asking for a reward because we care for and trust a person," Ma says.

However, Ma is upset when people are not grateful.For example, the first two customers visiting his studio on the second day of the photo shoot in Guangzhou just stood and watched as Ma and his team carried the props and costumes into the studio.

They didn't even say thank you, Ma says.

Most people, though, understand Ma's message of mutual care and trust.

An Yunnong and her friend, both 20-year-old college students, helped classify the props and put them away after the photo shoot.

"Compared to what Ma has done for us, our help is nothing to speak of," says An.

"Nowadays, many people in China think that it takes money to do what they want to. I'm thankful that Ma makes me believe again that this is not true. I can also have a dream photo even though I could not afford it," says the fan of Ma's photography.