The 38th GRist is Qianqian Zhang !
About Qianqian Zhang
Born in Shaanxi, in 1989, Qianqian Zhang is a freelance photographer. She specializes in street photography and abstract photography, with a humanistic spirit. Photography has been in her blood. Shooting photos with only one-arm, she has become known as the “one-arm swordswoman” in various media platforms. A talented photographer, but also loves to be a subject of photos too. In her spare time, she likes to be a model.
In 2018, her photos were invited to attend BianWai photography exhibition in Dalian province, China.
In 2019, she returned to her rural home town and hosted her own exhibition for the elders of the village.
In 2019, she was invited to attend a photography exhibition in Dali, China.
My GR Story
I'm Qianqian Zhang (张倩倩), and I’m from Shaanxi province, China. As for me, I prefer to call myself a camera girl, because every time I’m asked who I am, I'd like to be an observer and obsessed with taking photos. When I pick up the camera, I can subtly feel every breath of life rhythm in front of my camera, that subtlety goes beyond words, music and dance.
As long as I pick up the camera, everything in my eyes is too precious to me, all these things have some kind of divinity to me, and I would like to be a wanderer in these deities.
What is photography to me? Photography can not never tell us how to take photos, the essence of photography is a force, deriving from my body and life that have been inspired, pushing me to pick up a camera and take photos.
When I was a little girl, I would often lie in the cornfield, looking up at the sky in a daze, at that time, I always had a fantasy that if there was a pair of eyes in the sky, staring at me, from that angle, taking a photo of my posture would be great. Now in retrospect, wandering in the unseen world, I had the urge to record beauty and life, as a result, I started awkwardly to write diary every day, and it has gone on until today.
From a child to a girl, and to my youth, when photography hit me for the first moment, I realized that I would be the one who would take photos for the rest of my life, just like my diary, they all will keep me company.
When I was two and a half years old, I had an accident, and since then I had became a girl with only one hand. One day in my grown-up days that followed, a black-and-white photo appeared in my life. It was me- I was just nine months old in that photo. But in that photo, I had two hands wholly. Staring at the photo, I unconsciously wanted to touch my missing hand, but the missing hit me deeply.
That is why I'm willing to pick up cameras; I want to record every moment of life, I do not let any light of life escape my sight, and photography, to me, not only makes me alive, but also has a magic to push me to become more and more excellent.
Because of photography, my footsteps are almost all over China. I have been a swordswoman walking around the world with my camera, the camera is my sword.
Nature and so many people give me sunshine and warmth, and I want to give all these back to more people. Therefore, I love taking photos.
After meeting GR, it makes me more crazy. It seems that the GR is customized for me; with only one hand, I can take photos with it easily.
When I meet some kids in my journey, I usually let them play with my GR to take photos, which makes me very delighted, because I'm aware that photography is like a seed in their body that will spring up some day.
Though I'm still young, I know clearly what life is to me. Through cameras, I want more people to see the beauty and joy of life. I appreciate that GR is so comfortable to me. I feel grateful for meeting everything, photography and photos, and for meeting each other.
＃Original text
张倩倩，1989年出生于中国陕西，她是一名自由摄影师，擅长人文、街头和抽象摄影。摄影已经融入到她的血液里，她拍照时只能用一只手，所以被媒体称为“独臂女侠”。除了是一名摄影师外，她也喜欢出现在镜头里，尝试去做一名野生模特。
2018年，她的作品参加《大连边外摄影展》。
2019年，她在自己的家乡办了一场露天影展，为那些年迈的老人和她的小学同学们。
2019年，她被邀请参加大理影展。
我叫张倩倩，来自中国陕西，其实我更喜欢称自己为camera girl，因为当我问自己“我是谁”，我是一个时时刻刻都在观察和拍照的人，每次拿起相机，我可以更精准感受到镜头前生命的呼吸、节奏，那呼吸里有太多言语和音乐及舞蹈无法表现的淋漓尽致，而只要拿起相机，眼前的一切于我而言珍贵无比，在我眼里万物皆有灵，我喜欢尽情让自己畅游在灵光中。
摄影对于我是什么？摄影从来不是谁告诉我们，要怎么拍，那是你我他的身体和生命在感受和体验后自己被触动点燃以后，某种引力驱使着不由自主拿起相机就想拍照。
在我还是一个小女孩时，常常躺在麦田发呆仰望天空，那时我总幻想，如果这一刻天上有个眼睛可以看见，那它将我此刻躺在这里的样子拍出来太美了，现在回想，就是这些冥冥之中的时刻，让我心里有对美和生命产生记录的冲动，于是我开始笨拙的每天写日记，就这样一直写到现在。
从孩童到少女再到青年，当真正遇见摄影拿起相机那一刻，我就知道自己是要拍一辈子照片的人，就像从小学开始写日记一样，这些都会伴随我一直在这世上存在。
两岁半的时候我发生了一场意外，从此我成为拥有一个手的人，长大以后，看见自己曾经拥有两个手时的照片，记得那张照片是黑白的，我九个月大的样子，那一刻不自觉伸出手摸了摸照片上另外一只手，那一刻被活活刺痛。
这就是为什么我要拿起相机啊，我要记录每一个瞬间，我不想放过任何生命在这世界上存在的样子，而摄影在我这里不止是有生命的，它还拥有魔法和促使我一步步变得更加优秀的驱动力。
因为摄影，我几乎快走完了中国，自从拍照以后，我就成了一个背着相机行走江湖的独臂女侠。
大自然和太多人给予我阳光和温暖，而我更想把这些回馈给更多人，所以我爱拍照我要拍照。
拿起GR后我更加疯狂，是因为GR就像为我量身定做，轻轻松松单手就可以任意挥动。
在路上遇见的小朋友们都喜欢借我的GR玩，GR在孩子们手里拿着我就无比开心，因为我知道摄影像一颗种子，会在他们身体里生根发芽。
虽然年轻，但我知道自己生命的意义是什么，我想用相机来让更多人看见生命美妙和喜悦，谢谢GR，谢谢这世间一切，因摄影和拍照而结缘的万事万物和你。
