Junhao Tian

Through the Lens: My Journey as a Photographer from Guangzhou to the U.S. My relationship with photography started not with a high-end camera, but a simple question I asked at 16: “How do I hold onto the light that fades so fast?” Growing up in Guangzhou—a city where skyscrapers nestle against misty mountains and the Pearl River shimmers with neon and sunset glow—I spent my teens chasing moments too precious to slip away. Now, as a college senior in Ningbo preparing to study in the U.S. next year, that question has grown into a lifelong passion, shaping how I see the world, connect with places, and share stories through my lens. Roots in Guangzhou: Where the Sky Taught Me to Wait Guangzhou’s weather is a study in contrasts: sweltering summers with sudden downpours, cool fog-wrapped winters, and crisp autumns with cloudless blue skies. It was on the rooftop of my family’s Tianhe District apartment that I took my first “serious” sunset photo. At 16, with a secondhand Canon EOS 1300D from my uncle, I waited three evenings for the right light. On the third night, post-rainstorm, the sun dipped below the skyline, painting clouds in tangerine and lavender, while wet streets mirrored the hues. Clicking the shutter, I realized photography wasn’t just “taking pictures”—it was about waiting, observing, and understanding a place’s rhythm. Guangzhou taught me to notice details others missed: sunlight filtering through banyan trees in Shamian Island, dappling stone paths with gold; the contrast between Chen Clan Ancestral Hall’s red pillars and the pale sky; the Canton Tower’s pink-hued dusk, as if the city blushed. I focused on sunsets and skies not just for their beauty, but because they’re constants in a changing city. Skyscrapers rise, neighborhoods shift, but the sky—with its daily light and color dance—remains an anchor. That lesson stays with me: find calm in chaos, and let it tell your story. I also experimented with close-ups in Guangzhou, drawn to small, vivid details that breathed life into the city. I knelt on sidewalks to photograph dewdrops on banana leaves or zoomed in on teahouse door carvings in Liwan District. One favorite shot: a bowl of my grandmother’s congee, steam curling from warm rice porridge, a sliced preserved egg on top, light catching the oil’s glisten. It’s simple, but captures home’s warmth, tradition’s comfort, and everyday beauty. Close-up photography, I learned, turns the mundane extraordi

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