Zhang jingna biography of christopher

At the moment we’re having this conversation, how many people have Cara accounts?

Now we’re at nearly 900,000 users. But it’s been stressful. Yesterday or the day before—I’m losing track of time now—I saw a bill from a service provider and it was almost $100,000 for six days. So we’re trying to figure out our financial situation. It’s an ongoing process.

Cara founder Jingna Zhang

Are they working with you to reduce the bill?

I certainly hope so. We've had multiple calls and are working through things. There have been other service providers talking to us too, so we have options, but I'm hopeful that we can work it out with these guys and keep a longterm relationship.

This wasn’t meant to be your full-time gig. Is there a point where this gets too big and you have to look for partners? And are you considering a subscription model or outside investors?

Before this all happened, the next thing on our to-do list was to start a subscription service for our users, to see what the response would be and whether it would be self-sustaining. Now we don’t have time—we have to pay the bills now. So I’m looking at all options.

Do you worry about people from outside your circle getting involved and having a say?

The important thing is that I maintain control of how I’m building Cara. I love to be independent and want to do it on my own as long as possible, but in the worst-case scenario, we raise money. I did consider a friends and family [funding] round for later this year, with people I can absolutely trust.

Where would you like to see Cara in five years?

I want to see what the community needs and build according to that. I have some idea of how generative AI will impact jobs, and how it might reduce pay even for people who still have jobs, but who

Born in Beijing and raised in Singapore, Jingna Zhang is a fine art photographer and art director in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites and anime, Jingna’s work interweaves Asian aesthetics with western art styles, bringing unique visions of painterly images to fashion and fine art photography.

Jingna’s works have appeared on Vogue China, Vogue Japan, Harper’s Bazaar China, and Elle Singapore. She has exhibited with PhotoVogue at Leica Gallery Milan, Cle de Peau Beaute in Hong Kong, and Profoto at Tsinghua University. Her clients span from luxury to esports, with brands like Mercedes Benz, Lancome, Canon, and Team Liquid. She has spoken at Laguna College of Art and Design, Monterrey Institute of Technology, and Square Enix. 

Prior to her work behind the camera, Jingna was a world-class air rifle shooter representing Singapore at the Commonwealth Games and World Cup; the only female founder of a North American esports team in StarCraft 2; and agent and consultant to concept artists with clients such as LucasArts, Amazon Publishing, and Sony Music Japan.

Jingna was named on Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 list for Art & Style in 2018. She is an alumna of Stanford Ignite.

JRP: Jingna Zhang is a talented young fashion photographer that caught my eye with her fashion work on PhotoNet.com. We are pleased to share her work and vision with our readers in the first interview of 2009.

Thank you Jingna for sharing a moment with JRP Blog.

Jingna Zhang: Thank you too.

JRP: Where is home for you?

Jingna Zhang: I was born in the outskirts of Beijing and moved to Singapore at the age of 8. Now I travel frequently between the two cities, they’re both homes to me.

JRP: How did you get started in photography? Do you have any formal training?

Jingna Zhang: I picked up a camera on my 18th birthday just to take photos for fun. It just started from there, no formal training whatsoever. Just explorations and a bucket of interest to create.

JRP: Why do you photograph fashion?

Jingna Zhang: To most fashion is glamorous. For me I guess it adds that being female I’ve always been fascinated with beautiful clothes. From grand dresses in fairytales to looking at images of couture dresses on models as I grew up in magazines and papers.

JRP: What would I find in your camera bag for a typical shoot?

Jingna Zhang: Canon 1Ds MarkIII, 28-135mm, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 100mm 2.8.

JRP: Describe your digital workflow and the software you use.

Jingna Zhang: For Canon I shoot into the Canon EOS digital capture (or just on card), then load into Lightroom for color adjustments, post pro and touch ups in Photoshop. Otherwise (for digital backs) I usually shoot into CaptureOne and make color/white balance adjustments there. Then I load into Lightroom just for cataloging and then Photoshop.

JRP: How do you handle image printing?

Jingna Zhang: I usually send my works to photo labs for printing. For important occasions (competitions, book, exhibitions) I send my works to professional fine art printers.

JRP: What is your philosophy on lighting? Do you pr