When I Invested My Gear Money into Life, I Discovered New Possibilities in Photography

Thomas Chu Photo

Friends who followed Thomas early on should know that I used my D90 kit for a total of 7 years.

Because I found that buying better gear wouldn't make my photos special. But when I invested the gear money into life — exploring a bigger world, meeting more fascinating people, and living each day with a more curious, open, and optimistic attitude — my photography became distinctive.

This article is my talk at the 21st Open See Talks of the Tuchong photography website, sharing my own experience and views on photography. The talk starts at 3:50 in the video; everyone can also read the text version below.

Full Text of the Talk

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Chu Weimin. My Tuchong ID is "Thomas看看世界."

10 years ago I was still a high school student. The farthest place I'd been then was Chengdu, a 4-hour drive from my hometown Chongqing. I never imagined that one day I'd travel around the world, flying more than 200,000 kilometers a year.

5 years ago I was still a programmer, working in an ordinary little cubicle in Singapore's bustling financial district. I never imagined that one day I'd become a person who tells stories with images, using a language no longer Java but photography.

I met photography in my freshman year. Back then I had some scholarship money each month, and for a homebody with no girlfriend and no particular hobbies, I'd saved up 7,000 yuan by the end of one semester.

On the internet, I happened to see that a Nikon D90 with a lens cost about the same, so I decided to buy it to record my study-abroad life. At first I shot everything — portraits, street, landscapes — but after a month I lost interest in that kind of photography, and the camera stayed locked in a cabinet for over a year.

It wasn't until the second semester of my sophomore year that I got the chance to exchange in Germany. For the first time, I had the chance, like many young foreigners, to be a backpacker and travel to many places I'd long dreamed of. It was also from then that I unlocked a new hobby: the outdoors.

My first outdoor trip was a small hill of a few hundred meters in Germany. I charged up in jeans with a backpack, and halfway up my shoes were soaked by snow.

After that, I slowly climbed 1,000 meters, 2,000 meters, 3,000 meters. When the exchange finally ended, I met up with a few online friends and summited Germany's highest peak. It was also then that I realized photography gave me a deeper, more comprehensive way to observe life. More importantly, photography gave me a new motivation to unlock the unknown world and share my own story.

I used my Nikon D90 kit for 7 years. Because I found that buying better gear wouldn't make my photos special. But when I invested the gear money into life, exploring a bigger world and meeting more fascinating people, my photos started to get a little interesting.

For me, photography is actually a life attitude; the root of photography lies in life. When we dare to try different lives, embrace a bigger world, and live each day with a more curious, open, and optimistic attitude, our photography will naturally become distinctive.

So at that time I set many plans for myself — not just photography, but also outdoor and exploration plans, like shooting the ten highest snow mountains in the world.

Later I found that many of these peaks are clustered together, so completing this wasn't as hard as imagined. For example, to challenge higher altitudes, I later climbed snow mountains above 5,000 meters and crossed passes nearly 6,000 meters high.

But by 2014, I had to hide my camera in the dry cabinet again. Why? Because I graduated, started working, joined the ranks of coders, and had no time to run around. But this time I didn't give up photography, because I discovered a new front: the internet.

I first started posting photos on the Tuchong app in January 2016, and soon other users came to comment, which thrilled me. For the first time I sensed another possibility of photography: it could not only change my life, but also influence others — letting another person a thousand miles away discover new possibilities in life through the internet.

Around then I also first tried creating tutorials on the Tuchong app. After seeing a good response, I simply set myself a goal: produce a photography article or video every Sunday.

From mid-2016, I began deliberately running my own self-media. This chart is the follower growth of my official account. It's amusing to see: every other week there's suddenly a peak — that's because I updated an article again, one a week, almost regardless of weather, right up to today.

Through running self-media, I found a way to support myself with photography. Later, the Tuchong app's business and operations teams found me and recommended many commercial shooting jobs — clients in cars, phones, and more.

In addition, many people who got to know me through the internet became my clients, buying my books and works and joining my photography tours.

So the internet also opened a new door for my photography and my life. I could not only change myself through photography, but also influence others. I could not only treat photography as a hobby, but also as a career.

By mid-2017, I was already earning some income through photography, so I decided to resign and become a full-time professional photographer. At the time I thought: since I'm young, I can give myself a few years to make mistakes and challenge new possibilities.

After resigning, my first stop was Indonesia. This photo was shot at Mount Bromo when I went to Indonesia in 2013 — a very ordinary perspective.

When I went again in 2017, I wanted to test whether, after all these years of armchair theorizing — writing so many tutorials online, viewing so many photos, learning so many techniques — I could shoot my own distinctive perspective at the same place.

Later I captured this photo. Everyone was surprised that a popular tourist spot could still produce a different atmosphere, which gave me a lot of confidence.

My second stop was Pakistan, and this time I went leading a photography tour. It's also fortunate that we live in this era — after socioeconomic levels improved, people are willing to spend money to try different travel and experience different lives, which also gives many travelers and photographers more diverse income channels.

My third stop was Greenland. First, I joined Dutch photographer Max Rive's photography tour, observing up close how the world's top mountain landscape photographers plan itineraries, scout locations, and do shooting and post-processing.

Later, my friends and I spent 6 weeks exploring and shooting in the Arctic's uninhabited areas on our own. It was also my first time living so long in the wild uninhabited region. The longer the time, the more ample opportunity I had to explore and understand a place deeply, and the more chances to capture rare moments.

The lesson this life gave me is to stand on the wave of the times and bravely try — many things are not as hard as imagined.

In this era, most of us young people no longer worry about food and clothing. We have more room to make mistakes and bravely try new possibilities.

Of course, we also need to ride the wave of the times, use new technology, and innovate on new media — rather than repeating the footsteps of predecessors or doing things inevitably eliminated by the times.

For me, 2018 was a process of repetition and deepening. I really enjoy going to the same place again and again, presenting the scenery there more deeply, comprehensively, and with new creativity.

I also try my best to construct my photos, hoping they can reach more viewers and resonate with more people.

I've always felt that if a photo only spreads within the photography and landscape circles, it hasn't really exerted its greatest vitality.

Only when it connects with someone far away who has nothing to do with photography does the photo truly speak in society and create influence.

This photo was shot and published in May this year. It should count as my first photo that went viral beyond the photography circle, with nearly 20 million views. Many people found it hard to believe that a snow mountain like a Disney castle and the Milky Way arch could truly coexist, which evoked many people's longing for nature.

This photo was taken in March this year, during my 3rd trip to Greenland for over a month of exploration. It was also my first attempt at more humanity-focused shooting. Fortunately, I captured this cold yet warm moment, and it won the Global Grand Prize of the National Geographic Photo Contest.

Leveraging the influence brought by going viral, I've also made more attempts, such as community co-creation photography projects.

Now many ordinary people can create with phones and cameras. How to seize this opportunity?

#5 10 100 Kilometers# is a trial project initiated by photographer Ye Ziyi, Wang Yuanzong, and me. It asks everyone to shoot the starry sky at places 5, 10, and 100 kilometers from the city, building a China urban stargazing guide.

Every day we live in the city and feel that the starry sky and nature are far away. But the submissions from more than 10,000 photography enthusiasts tell us that nature is actually right beside us. Even near Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, there are many places to see the stars — we've just forgotten to look up.

The Retouching Mini Contest is also a project I've been running long-term. Each round, I provide some original files and let netizens retouch them, presenting their own feelings.

This collision of thinking and creativity is actually very interesting. Every time we find that even with the same original image, everyone's cropping, color grading, and atmosphere building are completely different, and the final results are diverse.

I believe such inspiration collision can surely create a better popular photography atmosphere, letting more young photographers with individuality and style come to the fore.

As everyone knows, our country has encountered many frustrating things recently. Our economic scale has risen, but our cultural influence is far from enough.

We have 5,000 years of cultural heritage and a modern way of life, but how can we communicate with foreigners in a down-to-earth way?

We need to use the trendiest films, short videos, images, and text to showcase Eastern culture and life.

This is also what many young Chinese photographers are doing now: using the most individual styles and the most popular language to present China's landscapes, China's life, and Chinese people's stories, letting the world know a real and passionate China.

No more dejection, no more hanging our heads. I believe that in the future, more and more Chinese photographers can use innovative artistic language and modern business models to break through barriers and circles, bringing more amazing works to viewers.

Set no limits, and we'll have infinite possibilities.

Thank you all!

Open · See

(Open · Watch)

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"At 27, I Will Walk My Own Path, Without Regret"

"2016: My Most Unforgettable Photo"

"Thomas 看看世界: The Most Dangerous Thing Is Being Afraid of Adventure"

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