Camera: Self-made pinhole camera "Laozi No. 13"
Focal Length: 99 mm
Aperture: 0.30 x 30 mm slit pinhole
Filter: -3.5 ND filter
Dimensions: 14.8 x 11.5 cm(ea.)
Photosensitive Material: Ilford MGFB Warmtone 8 x 10 inch photographic paper, loaded directly in camera
Lot Format: Set of 30 sheets
Edition: Unique
Signature: Signed by the artist
One in Five Billion: Prototype Set marks Chen Xiaofeng's first systematic exploration of recording the sun's trajectory over thirty consecutive days, one image per day, using photographic paper as the light-sensitive material and a slit-pinhole camera.Unlike the thin line produced by a conventional round pinhole, the slit pinhole renders the sun's path as a band with width, resembling the stroke of a broad brush across the image. On overcast or rainy days, the image tends toward pure white; on clear days, it becomes a continuous dark band; and on partly cloudy days, alternating black-and-white stripes emerge. Within this system, even the seemingly "blank" sheets are an essential part of the work.
This group of images, made with a slit-pinhole lens to photograph the sun's trajectory, is an homage to cosmic order-a grand symphony of life jointly composed by the sun, the earth, water, the atmosphere, the human hand, the pinhole camera, and time. The title One in Five Billion comes from the artist's understanding of the sun's timescale: scientists estimate that the sun has roughly five billion years of life remaining, while this body of work records only one year of sunlight traces falling upon the earth; hence the title, One in Five Billion.
This prototype set not only records the solar movement throughout the month of May 2021, but also established the practical and conceptual foundation for the artist's subsequent four-year daily observations, leading directly to the year-based works One in Five Billion: Winter Solstice and One in Five Billion: Summer Solstice. It is both a foundational prototype in methodological terms and a complete conceptual work, revealing a distinctive image logic shaped by time, light, weather, and material.
Chen Xiaofeng (b. 1965) is from Quzhou, Zhejiang. He is an art teacher and a member of the China Photographers Association. Since 2013, he has continuously photographed solar trajectories with self-made pinhole cameras, developing a distinctive visual language. His work has been recognized in Photographer's Companion's annual ranking, the TOP20 Emerging Chinese Contemporary Photography Exhibition, and the 11th China Photography Annual Ranking, and in 2025 he received the Grand Prize at the 14th Ant Photography Award for One in Five Billion. Some critics have remarked that Chen Xiaofeng uses the most primitive photographic means to create works of striking contemporaneity.