JONATHAN CHERRY: What has inspired you over the last seven days?

LI WEI: I was impressed by Ailing Zhang’s fiction Xiao Tuan Yuan.

JC: What was the last photography book that you had a flick through?

LW: Magnum photographer Larry Towell, The World From My Front Porch.

JC: Briefly explain the ideas surrounding your project ‘the Earth’?

LW: Inner Mongolia is my hometown. This project ‘The Earth’ is about the cultural change of Inner Mongolia in China today, is about Mongolian ethnic minority.

JC: Did your project ‘The Earth’ develop over time? If so, how?

LW: I started from 2008, now has completed more than half. I still need to cover more of the Inner Mongolia region.

JC: In your opinion what makes a successful portrait?

LW: An excellent portrait should reveal one’s  inner heart.

JC: What is the above (first) image all about?

LW: This image title is Nasong in Aili teahouse. In the winter of 2008, Inner Mongolia in China, A Mongolian herdsman named Nasong, dressed in Mongolian robe, ready to participate in the traditional Nadam Fair. Then I took this picture in this small restaurant.

JC: What has 2010 got in store for you photographically?

LW: In 2010, I will continue my project “The Earth”.

JC: Any other thoughts?

LW: Nothing yet.