Cheng Xinhao was born in Yunnan in 1985. He received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Peking University in 2013. He currently works as an artist in Yunnan. His works investigate the Chinese modernization, as well as the production of knowledge in contemporary society.
Cheng has won the 2017 Hou Dengke Documentary Photograph Award. His works have been shortlisted by the 2017 Arles Author Book Award, the 2016 New Talent Award, the 2016 Aperture First Photobook Award, and the 2015 Three Shadows Photography Award. He is also the winner of 2015 Shiseido Photography Award. His works have been exhibited in China, the U.S., and France.