From September 19 to 23, the 25th Pingyao International Photography Festival (PIP) was held in Pingyao. Li Jia, a student from the School of Performing Arts, Class of 2022, received the “Outstanding Academic Works Award” at the 25th PIP for her work Ideal Face.

The work Ideal Face collects 100 social media selfies of young Chinese women and uses artificial intelligence to generate an “average face,” revealing how algorithmic aesthetics shape homogenized visual norms. The artist then replaces the faces in individual portraits with this AI-generated composite, preserving the subjects’ real bodies while standardizing their facial features—creating a paradox of “presence” and “disappearance.” The work critically examines the recursive beauty standards of social media and their role in eroding individuality.

Upholding the principles of professionalism, diversity, and internationalization, the 25th PIP attracted over 5,000 photographers from 34 countries and participation from 117 academic institutions. The “Outstanding Academic Works Award” is granted to only ten works each year. This achievement marks the first time a BCU student has won a major award at this prestigious professional platform, a breakthrough made possible by the teaching transformation led by the Department of Film and Television Photography and Production, which emphasizes future-oriented imaging technologies.

After SPA, an exhibition space was themed “Iterative Experiments of Meta-Images,” in our university curated by Nie Xiaohan, Director of the Future Imaging Center and the Department of Film and Television Photography and Production. It featured works by four students: Li Jia, Wang Yuchen, and Wang Dian (Class of 2022), and Yuan Junjie (Class of 2023). The exhibition not only showcased the outcomes of professional teaching but also highlighted the faculty and students'active exploration and innovative vitality in the frontier fields of contemporary imaging.