Ski field photography clicks in Jilin

CHANGCHUN — A skier skimmed across the slope before suddenly stopping in a flurry of snowflakes. It happened in seconds, but the images were recorded by a photographer not far away in a succession of shots.

This photographer, Zhang Jian, is the chief of the photography team at the Songhua Lake Resort in Jilin, a city in the northeastern Chinese province of the same name. Since being introduced to the industry, the ski and photography enthusiast said he feels the job is tailor-made for him.

"The thrill of speed and the desire to push one's limits are the charms of skiing, of which photography is the best carrier," he said.

An art major who hails from Jilin province, Zhang landed a job as a ski resort staff member in 2010. Seeing that more skiers wanted photos on the snow, he saw it as an opportunity and worked hard to improve his skiing and photo skills.

In 2015, Zhang became one of the first contracted photographers on China's Hey Snow app, which offers photography services to skiers. In 2018, he took the lead in setting up a ski photography studio called Snow.

He has witnessed growing demand for ski photography and the popularization of winter sports in China, boosted by the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.

During the snow season in 2021-2022, Zhang's team uploaded a total of 3.82 million photos, 23 times more than in 2018-2019, with sales exceeding 1 million yuan ($140,845). He expects to set a fresh record this season.