“My hometown Dandong City, Liaoning Province used to be a well-known light industrial base across the country. East Liaoning has provided me with abundant materials and resources for my creations of industrial photography for more than 30 years of my career life,” Wang Juan, female photographer from Dandong expressed her emotions for decades-long commitment, “Despite countless tiring moments on this arduous journey, I have always enjoyed it and even become more fascinated.”

Out of her passion for hometown and respect for reform and opening up, Wang Juan has long been focusing on industrial scenes and created plenty of industry-themed works. In recent years, especially, she has engaged in shooting and recording of some national key construction projects, like Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, Beijing Daxing International Airport, Wudongde Hydropower Station, Beijing-Xiong’an Intercity Railway, Jiangxi-Shenzhen High-speed Railway, Benxi Steel’s New No.5 Blast Furnace, and so on. She has not only recorded the beauty of her hometown, but also captured the highlight moments of the magnificent scenes and diligent constructors of these national key construction projects with her camera.

For decades, Wang Juan has recorded the development of her hometown with camera, which allows more viewers to know about Dandong and Liaoning. The photo series Supporting Dream Realization present the vivid scene of art education in Dandong Youth Palace; the photo series Affection for National Border show the deepest affection from Chinese People’s Volunteers army veterans, children, guardians, and people from all sectors in Dandong to the national border; industry-themed work Song of Dawn exhibits the stories of car manufacturer Shuguang Group with different photography techniques.

Wang Juan is fond of industrial photography and passionate about the bustling construction sites. She recorded the touching scenes of frontline workers laboring diligently and selflessly, showing the strength of the Pillars of the Great Power and presenting China’s achievements in industrial construction and power in high-quality development from different dimensions.
“The photo Workers at Wudongde Hydropower Station Dam was taken on June, 2020. I was standing on the dam that day and it happened to be the time for discharge, the discharge from the dam of 988 meters in height. How magnificent and impressive it was! As I was looking for the right angle for shooting, I suddenly caught a glimpse of two workers hanging in the air to build insulation layer. The constructors were so adorable, I thought, that I immediately recorded the scene before my eyes with my camera,” said Wang Juan.
Three times of shooting at Wudongde Hydropower Station in Jinsha River are still fresh memory to Wang Juan even today. Walking on the dam, visiting construction sites, and listening to the daily stories of constructors, she took over 30 thousand photos.

The experience in the shooting scene of national key industrial projects, the various working places, laborers with different lives and the touching stories behind motivate her to capture these moments full of their own stories, plots and sense of human touch with camera in her hands. Her deepest feeling towards these is that the key projects are great and workers behind are adorable.
“It is the responsibility and mission of the duty-bound photographers in this era to record the history of China’s major industrial development. Facing the new era, opportunities and challenges, I will keep on focusing on China’s industry and workers with my camera and gather Chinese strength to make contributions to China’s industrial photography and its development.” Wang Juan said this was the passion for and commitment to photography, as well as the perception in and awe for life.