Water & Earth presented by Tugo Cheng

From the mountains of Tibet to the coastal fishing villages in the Southeast, people in China and indeed all over the world have long been reshaping nature to cultivate food. This human expression of both creativity and survival results in unintentional landscapes and visual patterns that describe ancient cultures and traditions. 'WaterandEarth' is a new photographic series by the award-winning Tugo Cheng based on Chinese vernacular landscapes, their rhythm and beauty caused by human’s transformation of the land and the sea. This project shows us the magic of when a man works in harmony with the planet which is becoming ever more challenging with growing populations and scarcity of resources.

With his camera and drone in hand, Cheng travelled to witness these stories of humanity all over china and to take photographs of the local wonders of tea and rice terraces, puzzles of salt fields and the like. These images reveal the picturesque sceneries behind what we consume day-to-day,such as rice, tea, wheat, fish, oil and salt. As a fine art photographer with an architect’s eye, Cheng is always in search of order and rhythm in everything he sees. His works are celebrated for their unconventional geometries and patterns that are reminiscent of ink paintings, as well as the affluent colours and textures that illuminate the most surreal terrains on earth.