Award-winning photo in the First Mobile Photography Competition of Chongqing

Minimalist photo taken by Chen Yunyuan with mobile phone: character + scenery

Minimalist photo: line + shadow

Chen Yunyuan's photographs of the cityscape were used as posters for the city in CRT stations.

Some photos of Chongqing under Camera of an Ordinary Person's Mobile Phone that made Chen Yunyuan popular on the Internet in 2015

Art of waiting

Cityscape (Photographed by Chen Yunyuan)

Chen Yunyuan said that photography was art of waiting and art of moments, and the black line was the shadow of the steps in the hot sun.

When Chen Yunyuan sat in the restaurant waiting for dinner, he took a minimalist photo with his mobile phone: decorative painting + cableway crossing the river. (Pictures provided by the interviewee)

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Chen Yunyuan, 46, is a medium-sized, chubby man who likes to walk along the streets of Chongqing with a bag on his back. He is a photographer who likes using mobile phone to take minimalist pictures. He can always find the beauty of the city from different angles. Even if he sits down for lunch at a restaurant, he will look for the most beautiful angle. His mobile phone is the most commonly used one for recording the city.

Chongqing through lens of mobile phone

But you don't know that he was still a "rookie" photographer five years ago. He didn't take a photography class or use a professional camera. Today, his photography works have won numerous awards, and he is often invited to share photography skills with photography lovers.

Chen Yunyuan's love for photography started from 2015. When the reporter of Chongqing Evening News interviewed Chen Yunyuan, his computer still kept a web page - “Chongqing under the Camera of an Ordinary Person's Mobile Phone” that made him famous on the Internet at that time.

In this group of photos, there are speeding rail transit, citizens relaxing along the river, Chaotianmen Bridge with majestic background, Yangtze River Cableway, couples chatting on Nanbin Road, and old fishermen fishing under the Chongqing Grand Theater... From the perspective of photos and composition, Chen Yunyuan devoted his time.

“The story in the photo is the reflection of life of Chongqing people,” Mr. Chen said.

At that time, Chen Yunyuan was still engaged in the construction industry. This group of photos was taken at will when he was walking along Binjiang Road in his spare time. At that time, he said, he just bought a Samsung mobile phone with great camera function. "Without intention, I just want to take some pictures I like."

Unexpectedly, this group of photos was recommended by a senior photographer to a popular website in the mobile photography circle, and won high praise.

Chen Yunyuan was famous for that. He said with a smile that the title of the post was quite attractive. At that time, Chongqing was not as popular as it is now. Many netizens contacted him after seeing the photos to think of Chongqing as a tourist destination.

Incorporate the art of calligraphy into photography

Chen Yunyuan majored in accounting. If there is anything to do with photography, it is his favorite art of calligraphy. “Photography is about composition, and calligraphy is about structure,” he said.

For example, Chen Yunyuan's favorite way of photography now is minimalist photography. Minimalist photography requires rigorous composition, rules and order, and reasonable avoidance of unnecessary elements in front of the camera. He even thought it had to be a little obsessive-compulsive.

During the interview with Chen Yunyuan, he shared with the reporter a picture taken with his mobile phone. In the middle and upper position of the picture, a black body sculpture rises in the air, attracting people's attention. The background is a light-colored high-rise building and a river crossing cableway.

Without Chen Yunyuan's hint, the reporter couldn't find out that this was a decorative picture taken at a restaurant in Longfor Paradise Walk.

“Eagle’s angle” and “frog’s angle” brought additional discoveries

Chen Yunyuan also liked to find a new way to take photos. He believed that the photographer should have a pair of “eagle’s angle” and “frog’s angle” to shoot. “We're used to looking at things head up. What if we looked down like an eagle or up like a frog?”

Last year, Chen Yunyuan won the best work award in the First Mobile Photography Competition of Chongqing for his photos “Looking Up the City”. The photos were of residential buildings and skyscrapers just completed in Jiangbei in 2017.

In order to take these photos, he found a lot of camera positions and angles, and finally held up his mobile phone in the middle of the building to take pictures of these visually striking buildings.

Due to the strong impact and rigorous composition, some people doubted that the photos were not taken by mobile phones.

The Olympic Stadium “Bird's Nest” has been photographed countless times. In 2017, Chen Yunyuan's reflection of the Bird's Nest aroused the curiosity of friends in Beijing.

“There is no river or lake near Bird’s Nest. How did you get the reflection?” A friend in Beijing called Chen Yunyuan for confirmation. Chen Yunyuan said it was very simple. He wanted to photograph Bird's Nest from a different angle, so he bought two bottles of drink, drank the water and poured two bottles of tap water on the ground. As he waited for the sun to set, he stuck to the ground and captured the most beautiful moment - the reflection of Bird's Nest.

Nowadays, many of Chen Yunyuan's works also appear on many CRT platforms in Chongqing, which has caused great response on the Internet and become a big publicity for the city image of Chongqing.

Chen Yunyuan said that there are many shooting points in a city and the effects are different. He likes walking through the streets and find the beauty of the city in a staggered way. (Translated by Luo Juan, Fathom Language Limited)