From her first encounter with photography to the opening of her gallery…
Lise was born in 1971, in Qingdao in the province of Shan Dong. In her childhood, she remembers enjoying dressing up for her aunt and uncle, as they would take multiple portraits of her. But as she explains, she never saw the results because making prints was too expensive at the time. At age 10 (1981), her dad showed her a tiny image of herself when she was 8 days. She recalls this moment as a striking one, she could not believe it was she on the picture: “I could not recognize myself”. That’s where she discovered the magical world of image making.
When 17 (1988), the color photo appeared in China and at 26 (1997) she got her first camera. At the time she was already attracted by the arts, especially painting, but her parents pushed her to get a safer position in life. She majored in finance at the University of Shanghai and worked in a corporate environment for 6 years before she realized that it was definitely not her way. She quit her job and engaged in oil painting classes in Shenzen. Along her discovery of the world of contemporary art, she met many talented and unrepresented artists. She decided to open her own painting gallery in Mogashan 50, the emerging art neighborhood of Shanghai, in 2004. At the time she felt she knew too little of photography to represent photographers. She then met and learnt photography techniques with Yuki Onodera and Aki Lumi. She now represents 4 photographers in her gallery.
A photograph that has a special importance in her life…
Friday from the series Happy Day by Li Ming
This print is part of a series of 7 images that the artist took on the same week on a field trip to his hometown.
Li Ming belongs to the Double fly, a group of young active Chinese artists. He is a videographer and presented this project to the Vanguard Gallery when Lise did an open call for a photography group show. The print she shows is her favorite “because it looks so abnormal” and yet is not “made by computer”. She laughs explaining the way Li dug a hole deep enough that he could fit his head and chest to make the picture and its impact exactly as he wanted it to be. She sees in it the strength of youth, the eagerness to break rule and be a unique individual. It is the first photography she bought for herself.
Thank you Lise for sharing your experience with me and for making the effort to have this all-English conversation!
Stéphanie de Rougé
