Zhang Jingna

Zhang was born in the suburbs of Beijing to a sporting family. She moved to Singapore at the age of 8, where she attended Haig Girls' School.

At the age of fourteen, Zhang enrolled in Raffles Girls' School, where she began training in air rifle. She broke her first national record after nine months and subsequently joined the national team.[3] She was active in the team for six years.

Zhang's notable achievements within the sport include breaking a record in the 10m Air Rifle event at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships 2005 in Melbourne, and a bronze in the same event at the Commonwealth Games in 2006.[4] She was awarded Sports Girl of the Year 2006 by the Singapore National Olympic Council for her performances.[5]

Zhang declined the option to go on to junior college for A Levels and pursued a degree in fashion design at LASALLE College of the Arts.[3] She picked up photography there as a hobby when she was eighteen.[6] Probably due to her keen interest and achievements with the medium, she left Lasalle and the national team to pursue photography full-time in 2008.[3]

Zhang's clientele since then include Mercedes Benz, Canon, Pond's, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising and Wacom.[7] She also produced fashion editorials for magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Elle.[1]

In fall 2008, Zhang held her first solo exhibition, "Something Beautiful", at The Arts House in Singapore.[8] In 2010, 50 of her works were showcased along Orchard Road during Singapore's fashion festival – Fashion Seasons @ Orchard. It was Singapore's first large scale street exhibition featuring fashion photography.[9]

In late 2010, Zhang announced her second gallery exhibition, "Angel Dreams". The show was held at Japan Creative Centre in Singapore with the support of Embassy of Japan.[10] The event was noted for her photographs of Japanese musician Sugizo (Luna Sea, X Japan).

In 2013 she was selected to be part of Vogue Italia's "A Glimpse at Photo Vogue" exhibition at Galleria Carla Sozzani in Milan.[11]

Zhang is influenced by people such as Peter Lindbergh, John William Waterhouse, Yoshitaka Amano and Zdzisław Beksiński.[12] She also cites her friend Kuang Hong, a fellow artist, as one of the influences to her early artistic development.[6]

In 2013 Zhang started a personal project entitled "Motherland Chronicles". With the project she sought to explore subjects she loved during her childhood, including themes from anime, manga, and Japanese fantasy art. The project is intended for publication as an art book in 2014.[13]

Zhang photographed Sugizo multiple times in 2009 and 2010.[14] She also shot his band Luna Sea's 20th Anniversary World Tour Reboot concert at the Tokyo Dome in 2010. Her photographs of Sugizo from the collaborations and concerts are collected in his book Ongaku ni ai sareta otoko: Sono haran no hansei (音楽に愛された男。その波乱の半生), the cover features an image from their first collaboration in Japan.

In 2011 Zhang photographed Korean celebrity Rain for Anchor Beer's campaign in Seoul.[15]

Zhang also worked with cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao.[16] They collaborated on a tribute piece to Japanese artist and illustrator Yoshitaka Amano.[17]

From 2011–2013, Zhang owned and managed a semi-professional Starcraft 2 team called Infinity Seven.

In 2021, Zhang announced that she decided to quit fashion photography, citing racism within the Western market.[18] In posts uploaded to Facebook and Instagram, Zhang stated that her experiences with racism and xenophobia had prompted her to leave the industry.[19]

In 2022, her portraits of actress Michelle Yeoh were featured for Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People and the cover photos for a profile for The Hollywood Reporter.[20]

In May 2022, Jingna was alerted by Luxembourgish fans about possible and blatant copyright infringement of her work. Jeff Dieschburg claimed her work delivered for Harper's Bazaar Vietnam in 2017 as his own, using it for financial profit and media recognition. Strassen Biennial of Contemporary Art art competition in Luxembourg rewarded him with a prize 1500€ and proceeded to auction the "item" in question for 6500€ in June 2022.[21][22] News outlets noted the "obvious similarities" while Dieschburg justified the use of his work, claiming it as "inspiration."[23]

• 2008 Something Beautiful, The Arts House, Singapore, 2008[8]
• 2010 Fashion Season @ Orchard Street Exhibition, Orchard Road, Singapore, 2010[9]
• 2010 Angel Dreams, Japan Creative Center, Singapore, 2010[32]
• 2017 PURE, Hjo Culture Center, Sweden[33]

• 2013 Vogue Italia: "A Glimpse at Photo Vogue", Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan, 2013[11]