Hometown

Fashion as a lens for social observation in everyday China by Hailun Ma, one of the most influential emerging photographers in China among the new generation. Recognised as one of the most influential voices among China’s new generation of image-makers, Hailun Ma turns her camera toward the gestures, styles, and relations that shape everyday life in Xinjiang. This book brings together recent series focused on family, youth, and daily style in Xinjiang. Moving between the staged and the spontaneous, Ma’s images reveal how people present themselves, and how culture is worn, shared, and reimagined. Ma’s work allows the images to speak before they are explained. Through her vibrant portraits, she has brought global attention to the style subcultures of ethnic minority and multicultural communities in contemporary China—bridging local identity and global fashion culture. Her work has been featured in New York Magazine, i-D, GQ China and Vogue.