Xueyan (Mandy) Zhou, was born in 1999, Beijing, China. Influenced by her mom, a Chinese journalist, she started her photography journey since 8th grade after she got her first camera from his father. She believes that her camera is "the media to share the world in [her] eyes". It is the direct way for people to understand how she communicates with this world in her perspective. Her multi-cities grew up experience gave her more chance to travel and record her life through photography.

 

Inspired by her life as international students in the United States since 9th grade, and her American friends' curiousness of Chinese Food. She decided to film a food documentary, introducing food through different student's stories about food from their hometown or family. And expressing the complicated feeling of "What it is like to study aboard?"

 

To extend her passion for food, she also has started a photography project explaining the relationship between women and food. She is still learning to be a better photographer/artist in the process of creating artworks which incorporate painting, design and photography elements. She hopes that she can develop the ability that could combine performance and visual art in one piece in the future.