HONG Lei (b. 1960, Jiangsu) is China’s original and most eminent conceptual photographer, and one of the leading artists in the era of China's New Photography movement in the 1990s. Hong Lei was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, and graduated from Nanjing University of the Arts in 1987. In 1992, he went to the China Central Academy of Fine Arts to pursue advanced studies in printmaking, following which he returned to Changzhou and soon started to use photography as a way of art representation. Some of his renowned works include Autumn in the Forbidden City (1997), Chinese Landscape (1998), After Liang Kai's (Song Dynasty) Masterpiece Sakyamuni Coming Out of Retirement (1998), I Dreamt that I was Hung Upside Down to Listen to Huizong Play the Zither with Chairman Mao (2004) and Nothing to Hide (2008), among others. In recent years, he has also explored the various boundaries and possibilities of photography by painting his own photos on silk, as well as video & installation works. His selected solo and group exhibitions include Recontres d' Arles: Arles Photography Festival (Arles, France, 2003), Alors, La Chine?, Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition (Pompidou Centre, Paris, 2003), Seasons (solo exhibition, Beijing, New York, 2008), 2011 Chengdu Biennale, and Perfume This is Not (solo exhibition, Shanghai Museum of Art, 2012). He currently lives and works in Changzhou and Shanghai.