Neo in The Guangzhou Daily!

Recently, sophomore, Neo A, was featured in the Guangzhou Daily Newspaper in an article about his work with drones. The article is titled “航拍魅力广州 飞手还在读高中” or “Aerial Photography of Guangzhou, Photographer is Still in High School.” It highlights 2 teenagers who share a passion for drones and photography. These 2 are Zou Yi Xuan and Neo, who are both in high school.

In the newspaper article, the “Paris Overseas Flower Market” is summarized, and a 2-minute drone video from New Years Celebrations was even shown, mesmerizing the crowd. The video displayed professional, multi-angle camera shots painting human formations along with an accompaniment of music. There was apparently also a “competition against time” for filming Guangzhou City, and a total of 60 hours of continuous shooting. There were even 300 un-manned drones near the Canton Tower, under the beautiful night sky.

The article describes Zou Yi Xuan and Neo as leaders and the “backbone of the team,” of aspiring drone photographers who are also young, and explains how the love of photography and drones is what brings together students from different high schools within Guangzhou. It also talks about how Aerial Drones used to be used in middle schools, which inspired Zou’s and Neo’s love of photography. Neo also commented on how he was able to make deep friendships with others who shared his passion, Zou is only one example of this. In fact, Zou even said that the possibility of composing with Neo was “destiny.”

However, it was not easy for Neo and Zou to purchase the drones that they adore so much. They had to save money any way they could, even saving the red packets they receive during Chinese New Year. Additionally, they had to learn how to create compositions using free or even no tutorials and self-learning the necessary photography skills.

I interviewed Neo about his appearance in the newspaper. He said that, for him personally, “[he] got into drones [because] seeing this world in another angle is interesting.” However, he also acknowledges that “flying a 45K drone at 3 a.m. [was] very stressful since everything was pitch black and also, there was a live stream going on, so [he] couldn’t mess up.” Anyway, regardless of these pressures, it is apparent that Neo holds a true passion for drones and aerial photography.

Using drones and aerial photography has become a huge obsession and wide-spread hobby within China today, especially in this new technological society.