Why You’ve Never Seen This Photographer’s Work

You might have seen it on Instagram, but over the past week, I was in Osaka hosting a photography exhibition with my friend YOUNG HAMA.

The venue was Gallery F16. The owner, Soichi, has been supporting my work for a long time — buying my zines and following my projects from early on.

This time, he told me he wanted to carry FED publications in his gallery. So we decided to hold a small exhibition as a kind of launch event.

While preparing for the exhibition, Soichi reached out to me:

“There’s a photographer interested in publishing with FED. Can I introduce him to you?”

That’s how I met Qingshan Liu, a photographer originally from Shanghai, China.

Able to Shoot, But Not Able to Publish

Qingshan lives in Osaka, so we arranged to meet during my exhibition.

On the opening day, he came to visit our gallery. Coincidentally, he also had an exhibition happening at the same time. So the next day, I went to see his work — and we talked for a long time.

At FED, I’ve already worked with Chinese photographers like MI LU and Zeehaan.
So I was already aware of the realities of censorship in China.

Looking at Qingshan’s work, I immediately felt that creating and exhibiting these kinds of images in China would be nearly impossible.

In China, exhibitions generally require prior approval.
Publishing and selling printed works also requires official permission. Selling zines without approval is illegal.
And even with approval, if the content is considered sensitive, it simply cannot be shown.

Qingshan’s work clearly crosses those lines.

His photographs use nudity to express the emotions of young people in China —
love, desire, anxiety, and the fragility of life.

These are not shallow or purely erotic images.

When I first saw his work, I felt like I was peeking into the lives of his subjects.

In his artist statement, he writes:

“Clothing is merely the distance society allows. The body is the true existence.”

As we talked, I learned that he originally had a career as a fashion photographer.

That’s why many of his images are carefully staged.

Even in these staged setups, his creativity is clear.

Every image feels intentional.
Every image feels alive.

And yet, he had only 300 followers on Instagram.

When I asked Soichi about it, he told me:

“His account often gets deleted because of sexual content.”

Which means — even his current account might disappear one day.

FED exists to bring out work like this.

Work that gets overlooked.
Work that cannot survive on the internet.
Work you would never discover through an algorithm.

That’s why I knew immediately:
His work deserves to be published through FED.

So we started working on a zine together.

This is what we ended up creating: The Heat of the Body

Among all the zines we’ve published at FED, this is one of the most powerful books we’ve made.

Qingshan moved to Japan in search of creative freedom.
He doesn’t speak much Japanese yet. His English is still limited.

But now, in Osaka, he’s trying to build a life through photography — even planning to open his own studio.

His journey as a photographer has only just begun.
Get a copy of this collaboration between FED and Qingshan — and become part of his journey.

Everyone who purchases this zine will also receive an original FED sticker.
By the way, this sticker was designed by Yu Chang — a Taiwanese photographer and graffiti artist I’ve introduced before.

🦖 Come hang out with me on Instagram → @_nuts.tokyo_

🪐 New videos on zines & photography up on YouTube

🧃 Curious about Japanese and Asian zines? Visit FAR EAST DARKROOM.