An eye for the common folk

Photo provided to China Daily

He calls himself a joker who loves fantasy, and his curiosity leads him to weave the whole city into his work－a child living in an adult body, he says.

"This era is absurd, bizarre and unique. Material pursuits become the chain that imprisons each person," Liu says. "It seems that there is increasingly more a lack of curiosity. I feel very strongly against this state of mind."

It is in this social context that Liu finds his city big boy looks a good camouflage for him to blend in with the ordinary people around what he calls a disguise that is neither aggressive nor compromising, and he can feel at ease in this participatory atmosphere in the streets to record life via his camera.

"With those precious moments of human touch, dramatic scenes or black humor," he writes on his micro blog, "my heart seems to strike a chord with these passers-by."

He regards his love for taking such pictures not just as a release from the pace of modern life, but as an opportunity to reconnect with reality and the life within. Liu has been keeping track of the daily sights and sounds of this part of Chinese world by using what he calls the snapshot style. "The trick of photography is to keep what we see fresh," he says. Liu says he cannot remember how many times on the street he has had to capture the deep feelings of so many people in a heartbeat.