Nelson Leungwai: I’m walking in the air

Around 2011, I began working on the photographic theme “I’m Walking in the Air.” It emerged naturally from the demands of my work, which required frequent travel by air. My previous experience in documentary and photojournalistic photography trained me to adopt an objective narrative approach, one that avoids personal emotion. The storytelling quality of the photograph is what is most immediately conveyed to the viewer, and this habit continues to shape my creative process today. Although there is no longer an “editor-in-chief” assigning me topics, I still independently edit and prepare each photographic project myself.

In contrast to today’s increasingly diverse developments in photographic media and image-making, I continue to uphold the truthful and objective mode of recording found in traditional photography. This may perhaps be seen as outdated, but it is real; it prevents us from being misled and helps us establish proper cognition and judgment. Is this not, after all, also the original intention of photography?

—Nelson Leungwai