In 1972, Xu Jin’an started to work as photographer for Chuansha Culture Center, and was later temporarily transfer to Chuansha Exhibition Center in 1976 and Jiefang Daily as a reporter in 1979. He also joined the membership of China Photographers Association (CPA) Shanghai Branch in 1979. From 1981 to 1996, he started Chuansha Photographers Association and serve as president of the association for 15 years. He was selected to the standing committee of Shanghai Photographers Association from 1983 to 1992, during which he joined courses offered by photography education institute affiliated to CPA. In 1987, he participated in the photography workshop organized by national culture center system. From 1988 to 1990, he was enrolled in photography major by Shanghai University. From 1996-2011, he served as President of Pudong Photographers Association, and consultant of the Association in 2016. In 2018, he was recognized as Excellent Photographer in 2018 by Pudong Photographers Association. In 2020, he joined multiple international photographer associations, such as Global Photographic Union, Royal Photographic Society, and New York Photographic Society. He also took an active part in photo festivals: “Musical Notation and Grand Stage” exhibited at Huangshan International Photo Exhibition and Asia Photo Festival in 2020, and “Sea Gypsies” at Pingyao International Photo Festival in 2021. He has won many major awards in photo competition at home and abroad ever since 2000.
Description of the series:
The Emerald Lake
Emerald Lake is originally called “Dachaidan Lake”, located in Haixi Mongolian Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, covering an area of 6 square kilometers.
The lake is in the mining area of the former Dachaidan Chemical Plant, which was abandoned for various reasons. The salt lake is formed after years of mining where halide (water) and minerals (crystals) collected after the exploitation of resources in the mining area. With the gradual popularity gained via tourism and photography enthusiasts, the beauty of Dachaidan Lake is suddenly revealed to the visitors. The color of the lake is as green as emeralds, so people gave it a beautiful name: “Emerald Lake”.
Emerald Lake is rich in minerals such as potassium, magnesium, lithium, and other metal elements and halides. It contains high concentration of salt water, which is called brine by the locals. Due to the high altitude and complex geological structure of the lake, the subtle chemical reaction between the lake water and underground minerals has become the beautiful lake as we see now.
Emerald Lake is composed of residual salt mud, textured pavement, scattered small lakes. The salt bed turns alternately light green, emerald green or dark blue according to the sunlight at different time. I photo the lake with a drone to capture beautiful jade like jewels bestowed by Mother Nature and to share with the viewers the picturesque landscape.