©Andrew Zou, Self-Portrait by the Sea

It is with pleasure that the jurors announce the 2024 Lenscratch Student Prize Honorable Mention Winner, Andrew Zou was selected for his project, Gazed Gaze. He is currently working towards a MFA in Photography  at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), to graduate in 2025. The Honorable Mention Winner receives: $250 Cash Award and a Lenscratch t-shirt and tote.

Andrew Zou’s work reflects his experience and introspection of self and his queer identity. Through intimate images of the physicality of multiple bodies and a near-constant presence of body hair, we are part of and yet voyeur to Zou’s newfound
freedom.

An enormous thank you to our jurors: Aline Smithson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Lenscratch, Educator and Artist, Daniel George, Submissions Editor of Lenscratch, Educator and Artist, Linda Alterwitz, Art + Science Editor of Lenscratch and Artist, Kellye Eisworth, Managing Editor of Lenscratch, Educator and Artist, Alexa Dilworth, Independent Writer, Editor, Curator, Former Publishing and Awards Director; Senior Editor, CDS Books Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, Kris Graves, Director of Kris Graves Projects, photographer and publisher based in New York and London, Elizabeth Cheng Krist, Former Senior Photo Editor with National Geographic magazine and founding member of the Visual Thinking Collective, Hamidah Glasgow, Director of the Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, Yorgos Efthymiadis, Artist and Founder of the Curated Fridge, Samantha Johnston, Executive Director of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Drew Leventhal, Artist and Publisher, winner of the 2022 Lenscratch Student Prize, Allie Tsubota, Artist and Educator, winner of the 2021 Lenscratch Student Prize, Raymond Thompson, Jr., Artist and Educator, winner of the 2020 Lenscratch Student Prize, Guanyu Xu, Artist and Educator, winner of the 2019 Lenscratch Student Prize,  Shawn Bush, Artist, Educator, and Publisher, winner of the 2017 Lenscratch Student Prize.

©Andrew Zou, Self Body

Andrew Zou (b. 1990) is a Chinese artist lives in Boston. His art practice employs photography, performance, Chinese calligraphy and ceramic. Zou is currently a candidate of MFA 2025 in photography at MassArt. His work is exhibited in the Griffin Museum of Photography (Winchester, MA), Shenzhen Luohu Museum (Shenzhen, China), Gallery 263 (Cambridge, MA), UVA Overlook Gallery (Brighton, MA) and VanDernoot Gallery (Cambridge, MA). His photographs are published on the Spring Issue of Slidelines Magazine in 2024 and Vogue Italian website from 2020 to 2024. Zou receives Anderson Ranch Scholarship in 2024, Graduate Dean’s Scholarship from MassArt in both 2023 and 2024. He is the winner of the 2024 Lenscratch Student Prize.

Follow on Instagram: @andrewzouaijun

©Andrew Zou, Self-Portrait in the Shower

 Gazed Gaze

Raised in a conservative society where discussing sexuality is taboo, I place myself on the edge of restriction to test my limits. Through these photographs, I explore my sexual identity, desires, intimate relationships, and fetishes. Inspired by a Chinese poem, “When you look at the landscape from a bridge, you become part of the landscape for people looking from above,” my work explores self-observation through self-portrait, still life and others. It creates dual role as subject and viewer, engaging me in a mutually gazed gaze.

When photographing myself in private spaces, I create an intimate relationship with my queerness within a space of self-protection. In outdoor spaces, I project my consciousness onto the world, maintaining a connection with my surroundings and drawing energy from nature. Utilizing online dating apps, I encounter people who bring unpredictable experiences and insights, allowing me to explore fetish through all five senses. By layering Chinese calligraphy, photography, and performance, I highlight the tension between my Chinese cultural heritage and my individualism. A significant moment I capture involves shaving my hair, symbolizing transformation and liberty.

©Andrew Zou, Pubic Hair on the Soap

Hamida Glasgow: Hair is an almost constant theme in these images. Tell me more about hair’s significance for you.

Andrew Zou: Yes, hair holds significant meaning for me. It symbolizes sexuality and masculinity, arousing my desires and imagination. Although hair is easily and frequently to be removed from the human body, it conveys deep intimacy between the development of human’s relationship. Whether it’s touching, seeing, or smelling someone’s hair, it carries a sense of closeness and personal connection for me.

©Andrew Zou, Hair

HG: How does the Chinese poem relate to your work? I need a little more information. I can see how the last image relates to it, but I don’t understand how the other images relate to the poem.

AZ: The Chinese poem 你在桥上看⻛景，看⻛景的人在楼上看你 translates to ‘When you look at the landscape from a bridge, you become part of the landscape for people from above.” It was written by Brian Zhilin, who was a 20th-century Chinese poet, translator and literature researcher. It inspires me deeply because of the idea of diverse perspectives of observation from this poem, which is both observing and being observed. It resonates with the theme of my project, “Gazed Gaze” which explores the duality of gazing and being gazed at simultaneously. I incorporate this concept into my photographs by documenting my body, behavior, and performance, offering a direct way to observe myself. Conversely, when I capture ordinary objects or specific types of people that resonate with me, I observe myself indirectly through these projections. These elements reflect my identity and perspectives, creating a multifaceted narrative of self-observation.

©Andrew Zou, Underwear

HG: How is the “Gazed Gaze” different from other self-portraiture or deep looking at the self through photography?

AZ: It differs from other self-portraiture in photography mainly in the aspect of my personal experience, desire, and cultural background. We are presenting our own different stories under the shared umbrella of self-portraiture.

©Andrew Zou, Boy Flower

HG: I’m still not clear on what you mean by Gazed Gaze, can you elaborate?

AZ: I use the term, Gazed Gaze, to present simultaneous mutual gazes. This idea involves an interaction where both the viewer and the subject (often the artist themselves in self-portraits) engage in a dynamic exchange of gazes. I see it as a form of dialogue with myself, where the act of looking and being looked at occurs simultaneously, creating a multi-layered reflection.

©Andrew Zou, Pee Drop

HG: I believe you are in the final year of your MFA. How has the process affected your process and work?

AZ: Yes, I will be in the final year of my MFA this fall. With the continuing self- observation through photography, the process of this project has led me to embrace and celebrate my queer identity. Currently, it also pushes me beyond my comfortable zone, engaging me to test my limits in both my ongoing and future work. It has also inspired me to explore other artistic mediums, such as ceramic and drawing, and to collaborate with photography in my future work.

©Andrew Zou, Foot Fetish

HG: Besides getting through your degree, what hopes and dreams do you have for your work and career?

AZ: In the long term, I have specific hopes for my work and career. I aspire to become a full-time artist and a part-time professor at an art college. This fall semester, I will begin co- teaching in the photography department at MassArt, which will serve as valuable practice at the start of my teaching career.

©Andrew Zou, A Man_s Hairy Thigh – Diptych

HG: How have your parents reacted to your work and life as a queer man? How do you come to terms with the way you were brought up and the self you have been able to become here in the US?

AZ: My parents play a significant role in my work and artistic career. Since 2020, I have been photographing them every season each year, except for the past year since I moved to Boston for my MFA in September 2023. These portraits of my parents marked the beginning of my career as a photographer, and I plan to return to my hometown for a month in August to continue this project. Photographing my parents over the years has become a way for me to observe our family relationships and our individual roles within the family. This process ties into my "Gazed Gaze" project, as both involve introspection and the exploration of individual identity, whether within a family or in society.

©Andrew Zou, Scar

HG: More specifically, how have they reacted to your self-portrait work?

AZ: To be honest, I haven’t shown any of my self-portrait work to my parents. I am still waiting for the right way and time to present it to them, rather than shocking them with my nude photographs.

©Andrew Zou, Plant on the Bed

HG: Who are your artistic inspirations?

AZ: Zhang Huan, Ren Hang, Lalla Essaydi.

©Andrew Zou, To lick as a Cat

HG: What’s one thing about American society that still makes you shake your head?

AZ: Guns. First, the ease with which one may obtain a gun in the United States. Second, there seems to be a general misuse of guns in America. These two factors make me more afraid of guns than feeling that owning one is a form of self-protection.

HG: Yes, many people don’t understand the gun culture in the US. It all seems counterproductive.

HG: Thank you for the interview. Great to get to know you and your work better. Best of luck in your future endeavors.

©Andrew Zou, Bed

©Andrew Zou, Self-portrait with Chinese Calligraphy