About
Chris Yan
Born in Beijing, China in 1981, is an accomplished photographer and Creative Director. After earning a degree in art and design from the Communication University of China, Chris gained extensive experience working with top international advertising agencies like Dentsu, JWT, and Leo Burnett. As a senior creative director who has won more than 60 international and local creative awards. In 2013, he founded his own company to create and design advertisements for well-known brands such as BMW, Rolls-Royce, M&M's, and Dove.
At the same time, where he began to blend commercial design with his passion for photography, focusing primarily on humanities and street photography. Over the past decade, Chris has photographed extensively across different countries, continuously refining his craft. His works has received significant recognition, being frequently featured as Mastershot by the Leica LFI Gallery, and has been featured in Photo VOGUE many times. Chris has earned numerous awards, including The Street Photographer of The Year at Paris International Street Photo Awards, a Gold at the 2023 Tokyo International Foto Awards, a Gold at the 2024 Budapest International Foto Awards, and Top5 Jury Selection at the 2024 IPA. His works has been exhibited in Milan, London, Glasgow, Buenos Aires, Malaga etc., and also been published in several magazines and books.
Awards:
2023 Tokyo International Foto Awards – Gold
2023 Budapest International Foto Awards – Bronze
2024 IPA OneShot Searching for Peace – Official Selection
2024 IPA ( Int’l Photography Awards ) – Honorable Mention and Jury Top5 Selection
2024 INTA International Travel Photography Awards – Silver
2024 Leica LFI Challenge My Picture for the Future – Top 3 Winner
2024 Budapest International Foto Awards – Gold / Bronze
2024 New York Photography Awards – Silver
2024 Tokyo International Foto Awards – Gold / Bronze
2024 FujiFilm Moment Street Photo Awards – Finalist
2024 Life Framer Black & White Awards – Shortlist
2024 Paris International Street Photo Awards – The Street Photographer of The Year
2024 Paris International Street Photo Awards – Gold / Silver / Bronze
2025 Life Framer Urban Life Awards – Shortlist
2025 Dublin Street Photography Festival – Finalist
2025 LensCulture New Visions Photography Awards – Shortlist
2025 Pure Street Photography Grant – Finalist
2025 Siena International Photo Awards – Finalist
2025 Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards – Finalist
2025 E’ffestival Photographic Festival – Finalist
2025 All About Photo Awards – Finalist
2025 Black and White International Photo Awards - Gold / Silver
2025 Street Badass London Street Photography Festival – Finalist
2025 Rome Photo Lab International Street Photo Festival – Finalist
Exhibition
2024.2 Urban Exhibition – Glasgow Gallery of Photography, Glasgow, Scotland
2024.9 California Love Photo Exhibition – TheStreetSoup Art Gallery, Milan, Italy
2024.10 Beijing Story Chris Yan Solo Exhibition – All About Photo.com
2024.11 Invisible Cities Exhibition – Fülle Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2024.11 Competa Photo Day Exhibition – Competa Malaga, Spain
2024.11 London Photo Show – Hoxton Arches Art Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2024.12 FujiFilm Moment Street Photo Awards – Czestochowa Museum, Poland
2025.1 Street Night Architecture Exhibition – Black Box Gallery, Portland, US
2025.2 The 3rd B&W Athens Photography Festival – Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece
2025.3 Invisible Cities Exhibition – Fülle Gallery, Mar del Plata, Argentina/Santa Ana, Costa Rica
2025.3 A Docu Showcase Photography Exhibition – Ephemere Gallery, Tokyo, Jpan
2025.5 E’ffestival Photographic Festival Exhibition – Anagni, France
2025.6 Street Badass London Street Photography Festival – Knapp Gallery, London, UK
2025.9 Pure Street Photography Grant Exhibition – Villa Altieri Museum, Rome, Italy
2025.9 Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards Exhibition – Penang, Malaysia
2025.9 Rome Photo Lab International Street Photo Festival Exhibition – Villa Altieri, Rome, Italy
2025.10 Mexico Street Photo Fest 2025 – Galería Libertad, Querétaro, Mexico
Publish:
2024.6 A City’s Tradition and Modernity – AAP Magazine #41 B&W
2024.8 Beijing Story Where I Was Born – DOCU Magazine Special Edition
2024.9 Streets Journey in Italy – Cities Magazine
2024.10 Nanjing Old Alleys – Edge of Humanity Magazine
2024.10 Happy Time / Make a Wish – Scatto D'uomo magazine
2024.11 Happy Time / Waiting for Business – Colors 2024
2024.12 Beijing Story – Dodho Magazine 31 Issue
2024.12 Old Hair Salon – Des_Photomag
2025.3 Yesterday Once More – Woofer Magazine ‘In The Modern World’
2025.3 Beijing Story - Snap Collective
2025.5. Historical Fashions – AAP Magazine #46 Women