Life and a planet
The panda bends towards the blue stone. A living animal above, an Earth-like shape below: the space between them makes a shared planet a visible relationship.
Hou Yimin · Renowned photographer
On the Same Planet
A wild panda and a planet-like stone, lit by nature, meet in a single real exposure.
A representative work from years of field photography, bringing wildlife, conservation and photographic form together in one frame.
Enter the exhibition hall and contact the creator →
The panda archive
Explore the rest of the project here
The homepage shows just On the Same Planet, inviting you into Hou Yimin's photographic world through one image. The other works remain in this project archive.
© Hou Yimin · Display preview · No unauthorised reproduction
© Hou Yimin · Display preview · No unauthorised reproduction
© Hou Yimin · Display preview · No unauthorised reproduction
© Hou Yimin · Display preview · No unauthorised reproduction
© Hou Yimin · Display preview · No unauthorised reproduction
© Hou Yimin · Display preview · No unauthorised reproductionThe encounter
Six years of fieldwork. One unplanned encounter.
From 1987 to 1993, Hou Yimin worked in western China's panda reserves, producing around 150 wild-panda photographs and extensive field notes. This work belongs to that sustained practice, not an arranged animal portrait.
According to the artist's account on his original website, the photograph was made on a Nikon FM2 using colour transparency film. The blue shape is a stone reflecting natural light in a stream. He reduced exposure so the water and background fell into darkness, leaving panda and stone as two visual centres. The image was made in a single exposure, not assembled afterwards.
Reading the photograph
A documentary image opens onto a planetary scale
Black, white and blue
Darkness removes distractions, white fur retains the animal's texture and blue reflection opens the imagination. The photograph remains rooted in a real encounter while suggesting a shared world.
Judgement in one exposure
Transparency film leaves little exposure latitude, and a wild animal cannot repeat the moment. The image's simplicity comes from decisions about focus, light, timing and composition.
The artist's account
A photograph in conservation and Olympic contexts
Hou Yimin sees the panda looking towards the blue planet-like stone as a symbol of the Earth shared by humans and other life. Here it is first a photographic work with a specific creation process and historical record, rather than merely a panda emblem.
According to the artist, the work stood for years on the desk of Liu Peng, then head of China's sports administration and executive president of the Beijing Olympic organising committee. Hou recalls meetings in Sichuan, arrangements involving Wang Qing and a production copy collected by Beijing office staff. A ceremony and presentation to the IOC were planned, but, in his account, Wang Qing died in a road accident and the ceremony did not proceed. This is the artist's recollection of preparation and cancellation. The site does not claim that the work was donated or installed; supporting records remain to be verified.
The artist also recalls the photograph being discussed in connection with Beijing's Olympic mascots and believes its shared-planet idea relates to the 2008 slogan One World, One Dream.IOC recordsdescribe the slogan as the result of a public call;Beijing's official mascotswere the five Fuwa, including the panda Jingjing. The connections above are presented as the artist's recollections.
Hou Yimin also recalls declining a request during the 2008 Olympics to produce another copy for a history museum. For him, increased attention does not justify unrestricted reproduction. Each collection or use requires his own decision.
Historical records
Value in the work, and in the records it leaves
- 1993 publications.The panda series appeared in printed books including Chinese Giant Panda Album. The original panda website contains images of the books and French press coverage.
- 1995 Rongbaozhai reports.An archived Sichuan Daily clipping records Rongbaozhai accepting On the Same Planet at a US$50,000 base price. People's Daily Overseas Edition published a photograph of its display there. This is historical documentation, not today's asking price.
- 2006 coverage.A photographer interview published by Sinarevisits the US$50,000 history and the work's place in Chinese photography. Specific transaction documents remain subject to the artist's archive.
- 2008 Beijing International Press Centre certificate.The stamped document dated 24 August records that thirteen works by Hou Yimin were exhibited at the centre during the Beijing Olympics and well received by photographers and photography enthusiasts. It does not list every work, so this site does not claim that it proves this particular photograph was included.View the scanned certificate ↗
Collect · License · Publish · Exhibit
Discuss On the Same Planet individually
Value depends on edition, output size, medium, territory, term, print run and exclusivity. The six other photographs are quoted separately. Describe your intended use so the artist can confirm a written price, rights and delivery before payment.
Contact the creator about On the Same Planet →The site requests no banking details and does not present an enquiry or demonstration record as successful payment. Payment is arranged privately after the two parties agree.