You’ve probably seen a Jennifer Bin photograph before without even realizing it. Her shots come at you from impossible angles, offering up worlds more revealing than they have a right to be. To look at a Jennifer Bin photograph is to be in one, occupying the artist’s space — floating in the creator’s ether — dangling above multiple layers of light and air, as able to fall as fly.
Or maybe it’s not so much that you’ve seen her photos before, as you’ll maybe never see anything like them again. They’re instantly memorable:
Her signature series features shots from rooftops and generally high places, in which she dangles her legs over the ledge and dares you to look with her at what’s below.
Vertigo sufferers, avert your eyes:
Bin is a Chinese Canadian (she was born in Toronto) who currently lives in Shanghai. She was recently featured in The Bund Magazine, which highlighted her series of “magical” Shanghai photographs that took her two years to create. “Through her lenses, Shanghai is changed into a city out of science fiction,” Bund Magazine wrote.
Or as Vogue Taiwan put it: “Bin Xin [her Chinese name] lets everyone see a different Shanghai: besides hair-raising, also beautiful as to make one gasp.”
Here’s a photo called King of Shanghai:
Born in Toronto, Bin currently lives in Shanghai, where she is a UI/UX designer. Earlier this year her work was featured in an Apple ad campaign.
She has an Instagram page with 93,600 followers, but more of her work is on the photography platform 500px, where she has 181,000 followers. Her photos have been viewed 13 million times over there. She was profiled on that site last year, where she said:
One of the biggest challenges I had to overcome is finding my own aesthetic. I think it’s very easy to give in to photography trends, particularly in rooftop photography where you see a lot of feet dangling shots. It’s tempting to take these types of photos because these photos tend to do very well on social media, and I’ve caved probably one too many times myself. However, since so many people hit the same spots and get the same vantages, I think it’s way more fun to try to get something different. In my photos, I try to look for strong geometry and patterns. I really play up the architectural nature of these rooftops.
Go check out her website and follow her on her various platforms. We have a feeling you’ll want to see her future work.