photo taken in Janakpur, Nepal by Sheldon Chau
ASC Vision Program Mentee
Riley Hanyue Shen grew up in Xi'an, China but managed to find pieces of themself throughout the world.
In 2012, Riley left their homeland and moved to the US to pursue a BFA degree in Film/Video at the California Institute of the Arts. Later, focusing on cinematography, they graduated from the American Film Institute with an MFA degree in June of 2019. They has shot shorts in both China and US, as well as their feature in the green mountains of Nepal.
As a gay-sian non-binary cinematographer who is most attracted to the wilder side of humanity and not deterred by marginalized stories and subcultures. What they love the most is capturing all kinds of weird, sexy, sad, or morbid human emotions with a camera on their shoulder. Riley is constantly on the lookout for partners in crime willing to join them in drilling down to the essence of humanity in a shot. From a mountaintop lake in Idaho to the rolling fogs of the Himalayas, Riley is cultivating an obsession with the craft of cinematography and they are excited to explore how far they can push all these boundaries.
Riley is a mentee of ASC Vision Program.
When Riley is not on set, they are an avid woodcut artist and a fanfic writer. Covered in wood chips and stained by oil, shaping up subjects in stunning black and white can easily make Riley forget about time. The fandom subculture also introduced Riley to a new world of storytelling and baring their heart.
Riley currently lives in Los Angeles,CA with their wife and dog, Persephone.
Riley on the set of Miss Boundless