John Luff, Me and My Shadows (PEOPLE 2025)

The three images in the Me and My Shadows series consist of: Image 1: Life Isn’t Only Black and White Image 2: Read Me, Know Me Image 3: Emergence One person – many faces, many moods. All a part of who I am. Read me, know me. Inspired by Peter Greenaway’s 1995 movie Pillow Book, in this studio session I projected Chinese characters onto a model holding a traditional, folding fan (扇子). In Chinese culture, folding fans often symbolize artistry, elegance and grace; they would often be given to loved ones decorated with calligraphic poems and endearments. It therefore seemed appropriate for the model here to wear a beautiful qipao (traditional dress). In rural China, sometimes I saw fading remnants of old propaganda slogans from Mao’s cultural revolution still painted upon village walls. I also tried to recreate some of that feeling in the backgrounds of the images. In Emergence, a disembodied figure was used, to put a cubist spin on Chinese / Japanese culture in a nod to Pablo Picasso. (John Luff / JL Images)

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.