Beijing based artist Rong Rong is an important participant in the East Village art community that formed after the authoritarian shutdown of Yuan Mingyuan in the early 90's. The neighborhood at the time was a deserted slum made of dilapidated buildings is now a respectable and thriving art production hub in China known as the 798 Factory Art District due to the contribution of artists like Rong Rong. Born as Lii Zhirong, Rong changed his name after relocating to the East Village and began dedicating his career to art. Though Rong Rong originally aspired to be a painter, but due to the fact that he wasn't accepted into a local art academy he realigned his focus and became an impressive self-taught photographer. Early on in his career his preferred subject matter was documenting the East Village, Beihjing universe and the lifestyles that resided there, but eventually began moving towards photography with minimalist landscapes and simplified subject matters. Throughout the entirety of Rong Rong’s career is black and white images always remained consistently saturated with emotion and depth. To date is one of China's leading contemporary photographers. (Artist website) Read Less