Born in Dongming County, Shandong Province in 1979, Song Chao began working as a miner in Shandong’s Yankuang Group in 1997. He began to take photographs of his co-workers in 2001. In 2002 he received the Chinese National Photography Award. In 2009, Song graduated from Beijing Film Academy. He now works and lives in Beijing.

The familiarity conveyed by Song Chao’s portraits comes from his own experience working in the coal mines of Shandong province. Song says he began photographing his miner friends and colleagues to show that, “the Chinese miner is not a cold, coal-mining machine—there are rich and delicate emotions and unique characters beneath each rough appearance.”

Song’s work also illustrates the complex relationship society has with fossil fuels. “As China has developed rapidly over the past several decades, it has done so on the back of the coal industry and the workers who spend their days, and risk their lives, toiling in the mines. But, as we all know, coal is a nonrenewable resource, and people across China have grown worried about the potential ecological impact of our reliance on it,” the artist says.

His projects since then have included Miners I and II, Miner’s Families, Coal Mine Community, and two projects on migration, Migrant Workers and Hold. All feature his signature style of stark black-and-white portraiture with a whited-out background. In 2002, Song received the Chinese National Photography Award.