"Man-Eater" is a stunning black and white photograph by one of the most notable and exciting emerging Chinese photographers working today, rising star Ma Te (b. 1980). This work belongs to the artist's ongoing series of stunning images that document the incredible diversity among the 'everyday' women that reside in the urban metropolis of Beijing, the city where Ma lives and works. The women, immortalized in Ma Te’s photos are strangers to him, most are random inhabitants of Beijing, China. Ma selects his models at will, they could be someone he meets at a subway station or crossed paths with on the street. Their is no pre-existing relationship between Ma Te and his subjects. They wear their own clothes and strike their own poses. The girls in his photographs, as Ma Te himself states, are just one of the over 20,000,000 people presently living in Beijing. This work depicts a stunning woman in a broken down location under a bridge dressed in a very upscale and sexual manner, while striking a high-fashion pose, with her best accessory the massive black dog she contains on a leash, the title a clever touch referencing both woman and pet depicted. This work measures 23.6 x 31.5 inches (60x 80 cm) is an edition of 10 and is in excellent condition.

Ma Te says about his work: “I document the changes and the current situation of Beijing and the feelings of the people who reside here. Changes in China are happening so fast and in so many directions and different ways. I try to counter this fast-pace and encapsulate a moment in time in the lives of my subjects in a natural and organic manner. The pose, the location, the clothing, the time of day, is all very natural, I do not suggest anything to change the situation at all, they just happen out of a need to capture a moment more than from a desire to plan and control."

The artist (Born in Unna, Germany to Chinese parents, 1980) first picked up a camera less than a decade ago. He received his formal education with a degree in 2003 at Dortmund University of Fine Arts and in 2005 he moved to China as an exchange student at the Tsinghua University. This is astounding, when one looks at the incredible series of figurative photographs that are just now starting to gain attention in Asia and Europe from his "City View" and "Beijing Lover" Series', to which this work belongs. The feel of the photographs change from series to series, here the feel of Helmut Newton is felt in style and subject matter. The artist is influenced by a wide range of figural photographers including Youssef Nabil, Jock Sturges, Nan Goldin, Larry Clark, Terry Richardson and David LaChapelle, amongst others. The artist lives and works in China.