A woman with short, tousled hair holding a camera in front of her face, capturing a photo. She is looking directly at the camera, with a dark background.

Jing Xiao (She/Her)
Award-Winning Photographer & Visual Storyteller

Hi, I’m Jing. Welcome to my creative space.With over twenty years of experience as a photographer and author, I have traveled to forty countries to capture the world. My visual work — spanning from cinematic studio portraits to acclaimed wildlife photography — has earned international recognition, including serving as a competition juror and launching six solo exhibitions in China.

Today, I am bringing this lifetime of global perspective and artistic depth to my boutique natural light practicehere in Ithaca, NY.

My Approach: Honest, Organic, and Unstaged
I don’t believe in stiff, staged poses. Instead, I am drawn to what quietly unfolds in the wild and under the open sky — a genuine laugh, a fleeting gesture, and the organic beauty of natural light. My goal is to make you feel completely at ease so your true story shines through.

What We Can Create Together (Outdoor & Location):

  • Graduation & Milestone Portraits: Celebrating your achievements (Cornell / IC) with cinematic, timeless portraits around our beautiful campuses and local landmarks.

  • Intimate Fine-Art Portraits: Capturing your depth and individuality against beautiful local backdrops.

  • Life Milestones & Stories: Families, couples, and personal celebrations embraced by nature.

If you love honesty, depth, and the magic of natural light, I’m here to capture this chapter of your life.

Book cover with a blue and yellow background, featuring an illustration of two children in a boat, and Chinese text along with some English text that reads 'Pets & Humans' and 'DUMONT'.

Book Publication

《与你一起的日子才叫时光》
The Days We Shared Became Time

A visual memoir documenting a seven-year journey of growth between mother and daughter across 200,000 kilometers, 8 countries, and 12 schools.

From age 11 to 18, the journey unfolded through travel, lived experience, and alternative paths of learning beyond conventional education. Together, they explored different cultures, environments, and ways of understanding the world — growing side by side through uncertainty, curiosity, and companionship.

Rather than following a traditional educational path, the experience gradually shaped an independent learner who eventually earned admission to an Ivy League university, reflecting not only academic achievement but also resilience, adaptability, and self-direction.

As part of her daughter’s 18th birthday rite of passage, mother and daughter joined a four-person crew on a five-day continuous sailing journey across the open sea aboard a non-motorized sailboat. Her daughter actively participated in navigation and sailing operations, while Jing took responsibility for watchkeeping — an experience of trust, endurance, and shared courage far beyond familiar boundaries.

The book combines the mother’s reflections, photography, and lived observations with the daughter’s own thoughts and experiences across different stages of growing up. It is accompanied by extensive photographic documentation created throughout the journey, while the cover artwork was personally designed and painted in oil by the author.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

  • 1. Chinese Rural Documentary: E Zhuang (峨庄)(2011)

A documentary reflection on rural mountain life, memory, and everyday existence in northern China.

  • 2. Wild Africa(2012, Epson Art Center)

visual exploration of wildlife, instinct, and untamed landscapes across Africa.

  • 3.North America: Land & Light(2013)

A photographic study of landscape, movement, and the changing relationship between people and place.

  • 4.Land of Water: Guangxi (鹅泉)(2014, China Water Conservancy Exhibition)

A visual narrative of rivers, land, and everyday life shaped by geography and water.

  • 5.Childhood Memory(2019, Pingyao International Photography Festival)

A cinematic visual reconstruction of childhood in 1970s China. Through carefully staged scenes and reenacted traditional games, the project revisits the emotional textures of growing up during a time before rapid modernization. Inspired by personal memory, the series reflects on how four decades of social transformation have reshaped everyday life and collective memory in China.

  • 6.Unfold Your Own Life(2022, International Women’s Day Exhibition)

A photographic exploration of femininity, identity, and the courage of emotional self-expression.

A large herd of wildebeest grazing on tall golden grass in an open savanna landscape.
Group of Maasai people, women and men, dressed in traditional red shukas and jewelry, participating in a dance or ritual in an open, grassy landscape with sparse trees under a clear sky.
A man with a beard and dark hair, dressed in a black suit, is observing artwork on a gallery wall. In the background, two women are looking at their phones; one is wearing a black beret and the other has long dark hair.
A woman operating a stone mill grinder outdoors, surrounded by lush green plants and traditional stone buildings.
American flag waving in front of a city skyline with tall buildings and a cloudy sky.
A young girl in a pink jacket and blue jeans skipping rope in front of an ancient Chinese building with red wooden structure and gray stone walls under a cloudy sky.
A woman looking at a display of photographs and posters at an outdoor exhibition, with traditional wooden building in the background.
A woman with black hair wearing a patterned long-sleeve top standing with her arms crossed in front of a wall with black and white photographs and artwork, including a silhouette of a woman with flowing hair, a woman with sunglasses, and cityscape images, in an art gallery.
A woman standing outdoors with a group of water buffalo, including calves, on a grassy and rocky area with trees and hills in the background.
A large herd of sheep walking through a dusty, foggy field.
People viewing artwork in an art gallery, with black and white photographs and art pieces hanging on the wall.

Editorial Features & Magazine Contributions

Jing Xiao has been a regular contributor to photography and travel magazines, creating long-form editorial features that combine photography with written storytelling. Her work has frequently appeared as multi-page visual essays — often spanning eight pages per issue — documenting people, landscapes, cultures, and lived experiences across different regions of the world.

Selected editorial projects include:

  • Colorful Michigan, USA — light, water, and timeless landscapes in the American Midwest

  • Mayan Pyramids, Mexico — cultural memory and ancient civilizations

  • Guam — island life, ocean landscapes, and Pacific rhythms

  • Australia — vast natural spaces and environmental intensity

  • Maasai Communities, Kenya — ancestral traditions and daily life within East Africa

  • Additional visual essays across Asia, North America, Africa, and coastal regions worldwide

Her editorial work combines documentary photography with reflective writing, creating immersive narratives that move between travel, culture, memory, and human connection.

Close-up of a woman holding a camera, looking directly at the camera. She is wearing a baseball cap and a light-colored shirt. The magazine cover features Chinese and English text, including the title 'New Era Photography' and phrases about childhood memory, a dialogue between photographers, a master interview, and the 7th anniversary of Beijing International Photography week.
Photograph of a magazine page featuring four outdoor scenes, a woman portrait, and a close-up of a red and blue parakeet perched on a person's hand. The scenes include tall palm trees, a lake with a boat, a sunset over the ocean, and a colorful van with beach artwork. The page has Chinese text describing the images and the location, specifically mentioning Australia and a person named Xiao Jing.
Cover of a magazine titled New Era Photography featuring a woman with short brown hair holding a white teacup on the left side, and a black-and-white photo of children in winter coats running through a narrow alleyway on the right side.
A woman with shoulder-length dark hair and wearing a white and navy striped shirt, smiling softly, with Chinese text overlay and additional Chinese text on the background.
Open magazine with a two-page spread showing a rural scene of hay bales, trees with yellow leaves, a partly cloudy sky, and some green grass.
A two-page magazine spread featuring a Mexican cultural event in front of a historic site, with traditional costumes and skull masks, and tourists exploring Mayan ruins with blue sky and mountains in the background.
Four women standing in front of an exhibition display with photographs and posters. They are smiling and wearing casual clothes with red lanyards, and one is holding a camera.
A woman sitting by a pool, pouring a drink onto a plate with food, with a house in the background. There is a decorative picture of a fish with bananas and leaves, and a food photograph of a dessert with fruit and nuts, with the caption 'happy everyday' by xiao.
Open magazine spread featuring a group of Maasai women in traditional attire and some women in casual clothing, with a sign welcoming visitors from the County Council of TransMara in Kenya.
A magazine page featuring a young girl with long hair and a woman with short hair, standing in front of a sign that reads 'Tanbark Ridge Overlook Elev. 3175', overlooking a mountain landscape under a partly cloudy sky.

Closing Line

I believe photography is not only about what we see, but about how we remember, feel, and quietly understand the world around us.

Jing Xiao

Have a vision in mind? Send me an email with your ideal timing and the story you’d like to tell——let’s create something together.

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