10 Questions with Tianrun Shi

Tianrun Shi is an award-winning photographer known for his evocative explorations of the interplay between nature and urban landscapes. His work captures the evolving relationship between organic and constructed environments, offering a poetic perspective on contemporary spaces.

Tianrun studied fine arts at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and later refined his photographic practice at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. His academic training provided a strong conceptual foundation, but it isthrough his continuous exploration and professional practice that he has developed a distinctive visual language. His photography has graced the halls of some of the most prestigious institutions and galleries, including ContourGazing at QU Art China and Gazing Moment at the Art Museum of Tianjin. A celebrated award winner of the fifth Tianjin City “亨昌瑞祥” Photography Exhibition, his work stands as a testament to his extraordinary talent and vision. With a masterful aesthetic honed over years of experience, he effortlessly blends the richness of tradition with the boldness of modernity, creating images that resonate with profound depth, raw emotion, and an enduring sense of timelessness. Each photograph is not just a visual masterpiece but a narrative that transcends boundaries, leaving an indelible mark on the viewer’s soul. Now based in Los Angeles, Tianrun continues to expand his artistic reach, drawing from diverse cultural influences to create images that resonate both personally and universally. His work has garnered recognition for its ability to bridge documentary and conceptual photography, offering a nuanced vision of the world through his lens.

www.shitianrun.com

ARTIST STATEMENT

This series of color infrared photographs offers a fresh and immersive perspective on the landscapes of Los Angeles. Inspired by the now-discontinued Kodak Aerochrome, the work reimagines the city’s familiar scenery in surreal hues, transforming everyday environments into visually striking and thought-provoking compositions. Aerochrome, renowned for its false-color infrared rendering, translates infrared light into an iconic pinkish-red palette. To recreate this aesthetic, Shi employs the trichrome technique, a method that constructs color images from three black-and-white photographs taken with different color filter packs. Through this meticulous process, he not only revives the lost visual language of Aerochrome but also invites viewers to reconsider the beauty of the every day—encouraging them to embrace new perspectives in their own lives.

INTERVIEW

You’ve studied fine arts and photography at prestigious institutions—how have these experiences shaped your artistic vision and approach?

My experiences studying in art schools have significantly shaped my identity and expression. Art schools provide me with opportunities to explore novel and refined methods of self-expression. I completed my undergraduate studies in San Francisco, a city that profoundly influenced me. Its vibrant culture and relaxed pace fostered my artistic growth. Subsequently, I relocated to Los Angeles for my graduate studies, where I have undoubtedly refined my photography skills. My focus has shifted from capturing visually appealing images to delving deeper into the underlying meanings and emotions conveyed through my photographs.

Your work explores the relationship between nature and urban landscapes. What draws you to this intersection, and how do you see it evolving in your photography?

My primary inspiration for exploring the connection between nature and urban landscapes is the photographic series Uncommon Places by American photographer Stephen Shore. At the moment of capture, the three-dimensional space collapses into a two-dimensional plane, and the lines therein imply an interconnectedness, creating a unified whole. The elements I choose to frame in the photograph determine the composition and order of the image. I find the interplay between organic and constructed elements particularly intriguing—the coexistence, clash, or fusion of nature and architecture in unexpected ways. Cities are designed to control and organize space, yet nature inevitably finds a way to infiltrate these environments. This can manifest in planned green spaces, creeping vines reclaiming abandoned structures, or the way natural light softens the rigid edges of buildings. All these elements interact in ways that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Griffith Observetory, CPrint, 2023 © Tianrun Shi

San Francisco, CPrint, 2024 © Tianrun Shi

Your practice balances documentary and conceptual photography. How do you navigate the space between reality and narrative in your work?

I see photography not just as a tool for capturing reality but as a medium for shaping perception. While my images document existing urban and natural landscapes, they also frame these spaces in a way that reveals underlying narratives—suggesting relationships, tensions, and meanings that may be too tiny to notice. Besides Stephen Shore, Hiroshi Sugimoto’s work has profoundly influenced my approach to photography. His long-exposure seascapes and theater series challenge the idea of photography as a means of capturing a singular moment, instead revealing time as a fluid, abstract entity. Sugimoto’s ability to strip subjects down to their essence Sugimoto turns light, horizon, and architecture into meditative compositions, which has inspired me to think beyond mere representation. His work reinforces my belief that photography is not just about what is seen but about how time, space, and perception are manipulated within the frame. The conceptual aspect of my work emerges from this framing, while I embrace the unpredictability of the real world. I see my practice as a dialogue between reality and narrative, observation and abstraction.

Your recent series of color infrared photographs reimagines Los Angeles through a surreal lens. What inspired you to use this technique to recreate the Aerochrome aesthetic?

My primary inspiration is the documentary The Enclave by Richard Mosse, shot entirely on 16mm Aerochrome film, revealing the scenes under infrared light and the humanitarian disaster in the Democratic Republic of Congo during its civil war, which both were unseen to the rest of the world. His concept has greatly inspired me, the way he combines infrared light, which is unseeable to the naked eye, with a war in Congo that killed over 5 million people. The idea of making the invisible visible has inspired me profoundly. I was instantly attracted by both the concept and the aesthetic look of Aerochrome. Kodak discontinued the original Aerochrome film, its availability became impossible due to the little stock left and uncertain store conditions, as this film necessitates a more stringent storage environment. Consequently, I adopted the trichrome technique. Trichrome involves combining three separate black-and-white images captured using distinct color filters to create a full-color image. The process demands utmost precision, as even the slightest camera movement during the three shots will compromise the final result. To achieve this, I must exercise extreme caution and maintain a focused mindset. This allows me to concentrate solely on the task at hand and carefully select the elements to include in my frame. By combining Aerochrome and trichrome, I can simultaneously reveal the invisible and capture temporal changes over the three images.

Infrared photography transforms familiar environments into something unexpected. How do you think this altered perception impacts the way viewers engage with your work?

Through this meticulous process, I am able to not only revive the lost visual language of Aerochrome but also invite viewers to reconsider the beauty of the every day—encouraging them to embrace new perspectives in their own lives. Byrevealing an unseen spectrum of light, these images disrupt expectations, turning ordinary landscapes into surreal, dreamlike scapes.
This transformation compels viewers to slow down and engage more deeply with their surroundings. In an era where digital imagery is often consumed rapidly, infrared photography provides a counterpoint—offering a moment of pause,where perception itself becomes the subject of exploration.
Beyond its visual appeal, infrared photography serves as a bridge between reality and abstraction, making the invisible visible. By shifting familiar landscapes into unfamiliar compositions, my work blurs the lines between reality and imagination, encouraging viewers to see the world—not just as it is, but as it could be perceived through an alternative, more introspective lens. I hope this altered perception not only sparks curiosity but also fosters a renewed appreciation for the unseen layers of the world around us.

Light and color play a crucial role in your photographs. How do you use these elements to shape meaning and atmosphere in your images?

Infrared photography has a unique ability to transform familiar environments into something otherworldly, altering the way we perceive natural and urban landscapes. By capturing light beyond the visible spectrum, it reveals an unseen dimension—turning foliage into pink and red, darkening the sky, and creating an ethereal, almost surreal atmosphere. This shift challenges conventional ways of seeing and encourages viewers to engage with the image on a deeper, more interpretive level. For me, this altered perception plays directly into the balance between documentary and conceptual photography. While the camera records reality, infrared photography disrupts our expectations, making ordinary scenes feel uncanny, distant, or even dreamlike. This transformation invites viewers to question their assumptions about space, nature, and the built environment. This creates a more immersive and contemplative experience. Secondly, it heightens contrasts between natural and urban elements, reinforcing the underlying themes in my work. This not only visually dramatizes the relationship between nature and urban environments but also serves as a metaphor for resilience, impermanence, or the hidden forces at play in our surroundings.

Your work has been exhibited internationally and has received notable awards. How has this recognition influenced your creative process and career trajectory?

Recognition on this scale reinforces the impact of my vision, validating my exploration of the relationship between nature and urban landscapes through photography. It affirms that the themes I engage with—framing, perception, and the interplay between the organic and the constructed—resonate with a broader audience, inspiring me to push these ideas even further. As my work reaches wider audiences, I feel an increasing responsibility to challenge both myself and my viewers.
My exploration of color-infrared and trichrome photography, for example, has evolved as a response to the saturation of digital images, offering an alternative lens through which to experience familiar spaces. This recognition has not only encouraged me to experiment with new techniques but has also expanded opportunities for showcasing my work.
My photography has been exhibited in prestigious institutions and galleries, including ContourGazing at QU Art China and Gazing Moment at the Art Museum of Tianjin. As a celebrated award winner of the fifth Tianjin City “亨昌瑞祥” Photography Exhibition, my work stands as a testament to my evolving artistic vision. Blending tradition with modernity, I strive to create images that resonate with profound depth and an enduring sense of timelessness.

Living in Los Angeles, a city with a rich visual and cultural landscape, how does the environment inform your artistic choices and subject matter?

Los Angeles serves as both a subject and a backdrop for my artistic practice. It offers an expansive playground for my exploration of perception, documentation, and abstraction, challenging me to see and reinterpret familiar spaces in new and unexpected ways. LA’s cultural diversity and architectural layering provide endless inspiration. The sense of visual and temporal layering aligns with my approach to photography, where I seek to capture not just a static image but a moment in flux—an environment shaped by both human intervention and natural reclamation.

Japanese Garden, CPrint, 2024 © Tianrun Shi

Los Angeles has recently experienced devastating wildfires that have deeply affected the local artist community. In your view, what role do art and artists play in raising awareness about such tragedies? How do you think artists can help rebuild their communities in the aftermath?

The recent wildfires in Los Angeles have been devastating, leaving behind not only physical destruction but also deep emotional wounds within the community. Homes have been lost, landscapes have been scarred, and many artists and creatives—whose work is deeply tied to their environment—have seen their studios, materials, and years of effort reduced to ashes.
In moments like these, art becomes more than a form of expression—it becomes a way to mourn, heal, and rebuild. Art has the power to preserve memories, capture the pain and resilience of those affected, and remind people that they are not alone. It creates space for shared grief and collective strength, allowing survivors to tell their stories in ways that transcend words. Perhaps most importantly, artists can help keep the stories of those affected alive long after the news cycle moves on. Fires may destroy buildings, but they do not erase the history, culture, and personal connections tied to those places. By preserving these stories, artists ensure that the voices of survivors are heard and remembered.

Finally, looking ahead, are there any new projects or themes you’re currently exploring that excite you? What do you see for yourself and your work in the future?

The surreal qualities of infrared photography offer a unique way to visualize this transformation, making the unseen visible and inviting viewers to reconsider their relationship with the environment. The evolving relationship between urban spaces and nature is not just a contrast but an interdependent system. My goal is to continue evolving my artistic process, using photography as a tool for perception-shifting and dialogue. The future of my work lies in this intersection—between reality and abstraction, documentation and interpretation, past and future.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.

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