Michelle Qian Li

Uncanny Fashion II
Uncanny Fashion I
Flora Surrealism
Withering Is Living
Still Life
Fashion
Portrait
Observation / Film

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About
Michelle Qian Li is a London-based fine art, still life photographer, and visual artist whose work explores the interplay between the familiar and the uncanny. An Associate of the Royal Photographic Society (ARPS), she draws on a background in advertising to create meticulously composed images that invite viewers to reconsider the everyday objects that surround them.

Her photographs are characterised by a minimalist aesthetic, often incorporating recycled and repurposed materials to highlight the potential for new life and meaning in pre-loved objects.

Michelle Qian Li’s work is influenced by the visual language of classical painting and contemporary fine art photography. Through quiet disruption and refined detail, she encourages viewers to question the reality presented to them and consider the deeper narratives embedded in the material world.

Email: mclee917@gmail.com
Open to commission and collaboration, prints are available upon request.


Selected Exhibition

  • 30/06-31/08/2026 Framing Spring, People's Garden wall, part of Is This a Garden? and The Perfect Flower exhibition, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, U.K
    
  • 19/01-10/04/2026 Alienated, Shutter Hub Open 2026, Alison Richard Building, Cambridge, U.K, curated by Karen Harvey MBE
  
  • 09/04-14/04/2026 Octopus, Langoustine, Chalice and Tulip, Royal Photographic Society London Region Annual Exhibition, Espacio Gallery, London, U.K
  
  • Portraits of Jessica Toale MP and Munira Wilson MP for The 40% Project, Women In Photography, Royal Photographic Society, Online group exhibition
 
  • 21-26/10/2025 Uncanny Fashion, 5+5+8+12=30£, Winton & Westbourne & Swanage, PhotoMonth London Festival exhibition, London, U.K, Selected and co-curated by Zelda Cheatle and Paul Wenham-Clarke

  • 04/2025 Uncanny Fashion, 5+7=12£, Winton & Westbourne, Colour 2025 Exhibition, the Glasgow Gallery of Photography, Glasgow, U.K

  • 26/03-30/03/2025 Uncanny Fashion, 2.5+2+1+6=11.5£, Winton, Royal Photographic Society London Region Annual Exhibition, Espacio Gallery, London, U.K

  • 11/2024 Uncanny Fashion, 2.5+2+1+6=11.5£, Winton, BBA One Shot Award, BBA Photography Prize Exhibition, BBA Gallery, Berlin, Germany

  • 08-09/2024 Postgraduate Summer Shows 2024, the Gallery, Arts University Bournemouth, Poole, U.K

  • 05/2024 AUB International Collective Exhibition 2024, the Gallery, Arts University Bournemouth, Poole, U.K


Selected Awards  
  • Aesthetica Art Prize 2026 longlist, 2026
 
  • 1839 Awards Art Storytelling Contest Bronze Award, in Other category, Professional, 2025
   
   
  • Tokyo International Foto Awards Two Honourable Mentions, Fine-Art / Still Life Professional, 2025
    



Publication
  
  • Portraits of Jessica Toale MP and Munira Wilson MP will be published in 40%: Inspiring Women MPs Photographed by Women Photobook, by Image & Reality, October, 2026, Pre-order here
   
  • Floral Path, The Green, and Jardins Chinois will be published in Shutter Hub Editions: Flora Photobook, by Shutter Hub, October, 2026 
  
  • A Moment in Life will be published in Shutter Hub Editions: The City Series: Cambridge Photobook, by Shutter Hub, 25th September, 2026, Pre-order here
  
  • ‘Alienated, Flora Surrealism’ published in REBOOT Magazine by Offspring PhotoMeet and printed by Newspaper Club, 6th, May, 2026
  
  • ‘Uncanny Fashion by Qian Li: Where Art, Fashion and Consumerism Collide’, project feature on Dodho Magazine Website, April, 2026
  
  • ‘Uncanny, Sustainable - and Chic’, project feature, WE ARE Magazine, Women In Photography, Royal Photographic Society, September Issue, 2025



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