Calling The Shots

Chen Man has almost single-handedly put Chinese photography and models on the global fashion map. She talks to Oliver Giles about using her fame for good and reveals what might be her biggest project yet

As Mainland China’s hottest photographer, Chen Man is often thinking about the next big thing. Next season’s fashion. Next month’s magazine covers. Next year’s breakout film star, who will primp and preen in front of her lens for portraits that will stare out from newsstands around the world. But today she’s thinking about the past—the very distant past, around the year AD450, when the legendary Hua Mulan is said to have shaved her hair, swapped her cheongsam for chain mail and taken her elderly father’s place in the Chinese army.

“At the moment, I’m shooting the poster for Disney’s Mulan movie. The film will be coming out in March 2020,” Chen reveals. She can’t say too much about the project, but she has just returned to her studio in Beijing from New Zealand’s picturesque South Island, where a crew of more than 600 has spent the past few months shooting key scenes for the film. Among them were Hong Kong film star Donnie Yen and lead actress Liu Yifei, who was chosen out of nearly 1,000 hopefuls to play the mythical female warrior. “I’m really excited to be part of this project—it’s great to be involved in sharing this classic Chinese folk tale with new audiences around the world,” Chen adds. She may be singing Disney’s praises, but sharing Chinese culture with the world is, in a nutshell, exactly what Chen has been doing for nearly 20 years.