Print Date: 2020
Location: Primeval forest, Bipeng Valley, Sichuan
Camera Format: Large-format camera with Ilford sheet film
Medium: Gelatin silver print on chloride silver paper base
Edition: 9/20 + 2 AP
Framing: Museum-grade acid-free mounting, Tru Vue anti-reflective glass, USA, custom dark hardwood frame
Signature: Signed by the artist
Leaves brings ferns, broad leaves, and fallen wood into the same frame through a viewpoint close to the forest floor, forming a dense natural texture of overlapping and interwoven forms. Rather than pursuing a dramatic landscape effect, the work reveals an almost textile-like order and stillness within ordinary undergrowth through its intricate structural relationships and the rich tonal scale of silver gelatin printing.
Zhang Yibin is Associate Professor at the School of Art and Design, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, and Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the Classical Photography Committee of the Zhejiang Photographers Association. He began studying traditional black-and-white silver gelatin photography in 1995, and since 2004 has devoted himself to its practice, teaching, and promotion, establishing his own traditional photography studio in Hangzhou while actively fostering international exchange, education, and exhibition projects in the field. His work focuses on the exploration of photography's intrinsic language, with an emphasis on the tonal richness and material qualities of classical silver gelatin practice.