ICP Alumni Interviews: China Alumni Ambassador Roban Wang

ICP Alum Roban Wang (Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism ‘18) is a documentary photographer based in Huangzhou. In September 2018, after graduating from the ICP’s One-Year Certificate program, he was awarded the Wall Street Journal Scholarship. 

Wang is a Member of China Photographers Association, winner of PDN Photography Award, winner of the 5th RITA K Hillman Foundation Scholarship, and a National Geographic photographer. 

Now in his role as ICP Alumni Ambassador for China, Wang is responsible for building a bridge between ICP and the photographic community in China. This past summer, Wang served as a teaching assistant for a three-day workshop organized by Fujifilm, with ICP invited to lead the teaching. 15 students from 9 different universities from arts and photography programs in China were tasked with creating documentary projects for the workshop. 

Then Karen Marshall–Chair of Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism at ICP– two members from Fujifilm, and Wang, guided the selected students through the process of editing, sequencing, and curating this work for an exhibition which will be displayed at ICP in 2027. 

International Center of Photography: How would you describe your experience at ICP? 

Roban Wang: The experience at ICP was very important to me. Before ICP, I worked in a bank, and during that time I also did some photo stories. But I saw myself mainly as a documentary photographer. 
 
I wanted to tell stories, and at that time I even hoped to join Magnum as a war photographer one day. So that's why I went to ICP. There I started to see photography in a much wider way. I learned that photography is not only about documenting reality, it can also be about research ideas and different ways of making images. 
 
The program introduced me to different photographers and ways of thinking. It really changed how I see photography and how I see myself as a photographer. 

 

"I had a new way to see the world, some new ways to create photography projects, and a wider perspective on my craft."

  

ICP: How did the program shape your practice? What are you working on currently? 

RW: First, I think ICP gave me a strong sense of working on a project. That's very important. I learned how to use images and, sometimes writing, to tell a story. That was one of the main reasons I went to ICP, because at that time I really wanted to learn how to work like a professional photographer. Also, it was at ICP that I learned to work on my first long-term project called Bowne Street, and it was the first time I developed a project completely from scratch.  

I had a new way to see the world, some new ways to create photography projects, and a wider perspective on my craft. 

It was about a small area in Queens, Flushing, with an unusually high number of different religious places, and I was interested in this very special mix of cultures and communities there. 

Roban Wang, Bowne Street, 2017

ICP also introduced me to different kinds of ways to make images, like large format. Today, I mainly work with large format film and technical cameras with digital bags and my large format project called Yellow Dragon. It makes the whole process slower, and I really enjoyed that part of it. 

Yellow Dragon is not a traditional documentary project. We found a problem and then tried to find an answer. After I came back to China from the US, I saw how quickly everything was changing, but it made me want to explore whether the nature, tradition and the development could find some kind of balance. 

Currently, I’m working with real places and real situations, but I want to make something more poetic. There was no clear answer to the question itself. The project is more like a continuous process of exploring and asking questions. 

I've shown the project in several exhibitions since returning to China. And this December, I will also have a two-person exhibition with Magnum photographer Jérôme Sessini in China. 

Yellow Dragon, Roban Wang, 202-

ICP: Tell me about your involvement with alumni in China? What does your role as Alumni Ambassador look like? 

RW: I see my role partly as building a bridge between ICP and the photographic community in China. I've been trying to connect with ICP alumni in China. There’s not a lot of us, but we are hoping to organize a gathering soon. Alumni are in Shanghai, and some in Beijing. Some of them are still doing photography, but some of them work in some other companies. 

A big part of my work, I think, is helping students in China understand ICP, including how to prepare a portfolio, how to apply, and what to expect from an ICP education. 

And I also run the social media, by largely sharing ICP information on Chinese social media—like RedNote and Bilibili—and build connections and partnerships with some photography institutions, universities, and brands in China, such as Fujifilm.  

ICP is very respected in the photography field. But many people, even many photographers in China, they don't know much about it. So, I feel that building these connections is meaningful. 

On RedNote and other platforms, I mainly share the visual content and photography education experience in ICP. People really loved the video of Joel Meyerowitz speaking at the Infinity Awards. 

But on Bilibili, I can make longer and deeper videos, just like YouTube. There I make deeper videos about photography history, artists and exhibitions and also ICP’s programs. There's very large audience interested in photography in China, but the way people discover and learn about photography is quite different from US or Europe. 

Most photographers have taught themselves, there's no professional system. 

Roban Wang, Fujifilm X-SPACE x ICP workshop, 2026

ICP: How did this role help you create and facilitate the workshop alongside Fuji Film and ICP?  

RW: Fujifilm learned that I was an ICP alumni ambassador. One of their team members reached out to me. They hoped to invite ICP faculty member and program chair, Karen Marshall, to lead a workshop in China. 

We decided to open the workshop to 15 photography students from 9 different universities across China. I think that really made the project even more meaningful, because it was also a way to support and encourage the next generation of young photographers in China. 

And with Karen's great effort and my help with the students, we created a successful workshop. Many students told us that it was a kind of photography education they had never experienced before. We had online sessions for three days in Shanghai. With a focus on editing, sequencing, and overall storytelling. Work by all students will be displayed at ICP. 

Karen asked them to do a documentary project about their neighborhood, and we helped edit and curate their projects.  

Li Jixuan, Sons of the Earth, 2026

ICP: Any closing thoughts?  

RW: Some of the projects were really impressive and totally varied from school to school and from student to student. And I think it's a very good first step. Fujifilm provided the support and the platform in China, the students came from universities, and Karen brought the experience and the teaching of ICP.  

Then the students' work could also be shared and shown through ICP in New York. So it's become more than just a brand project. It became a new way to connect ICP with young photographers and photography education in China. 

During the workshop, I also talked to them and shared some more information about ICP. Actually, for that I think it's like opening a new door for them. Traditionally, in China, they have two, two directions: a Master’s degree in China or studying abroad. 

So, this was a good way to give them exposure to this different way of studying photography.