Yan Zhixiong (China b. 1979) "Dark Fragrance No. 5". 2005. This photograph is unframed and in excellent condition.

"Dark Fragrance No. 5" a depicts a jade-hued goddess, a stunning Chinese woman, who poses in the nude in a dramatic, high-fashion pose in silhouette that underscores her physical perfection, with a praying mantis perched upon the back of her long neck. This alluring color photograph is the work of famed Chinese Contemporary photographer Yan Zhixiong, whose artistic career was launched as one of China's top fashion photographers. Yan's work has a way of mixing beauty with the grotesque, human and nature, sexuality and purity, all features of his iconic "Dark Fragrance" series of nude photographs that feature a single model against green background in the company of a beautiful and revered insect, such as a butterfly, dragonfly or, as here, a praying mantis. Like American photographers David LaChapelle and Terry Richardson, Yan's work for editorial fashion assignments as always carried intense and deeply creative narratives, pushing the boundaries between high fashion and art. He is being recognized by curators and collectors alike for his important photographic portraits, many of which are of cultural icons, celebrities and models in China. His works possess a narrative that is erotic and sublime yet subversive, brilliantly traversing the bridge between Fine Art and Fashion photography.

Yan is a member of the British Royal Photographic Society and the China Photographers Association. He was born in Hunan Province in 1979 and now works in Beijing. He has studied traditional Chinese and oil paintings since his childhood, and majored in art design at university. At present, he is engaged in portrait art as well as photographing for commercial advertisement and star actors. His works have already won more than 70 awards in photography from Collections, Exhibitions and Periodicals throughout China, Austria, Ukraine, France, Belgium, Hong Kong and Macao. Yan Zhixiong achieved China's highest individual photography award, the "Chinese Gold" and was awarded the "China Photographic Art" exhibition Portrait Photography Gold Medal as well. He has held several solo fine art exhibition, most recently in 2010 at the Today Museum, China which featured his incredible range of photographic images.