Behind the Lens

My name is Henry Xu, a 26-year-old photographer

based in Queensland,

Australia, born and raised in Xiangyang, China.

More than a photographer, I see myself as a

messenger — someone who listens

closely to the quiet voices of the universe and translate

them into images.

Through photography, I offer glimpses into a world that

is raw, pure, and deeply alive —

not only the one before our eyes,

but the quieter worlds that shape who we are.

Moments from Earth

As a child, I discovered the golden records sent aboard

Voyager 1 and 2 —

a small archive of sounds and images launched into

deep space,

created to introduce who we were, what we had built,

and the world we came from.

Those images moved me deeply.

But beneath the wonder, something lingered.

I wished they had shown more —

more of Earth itself.

Years later, when I began photographing the world

around me,

that early fascination returned in a new form.

Photography became more than art.

It became a way of listening, witnessing, and

remembering.

In the vastness of the cosmos — endless, ancient,

immeasurable —

we find ourselves here, in this brief moment of time,

on a planet unlike any other.

A planet that breathes, feels, and creates.

Where life has evolved in rare colour and mystery

for billions of years.

My photography journey is rooted in a simple truth:

Even beside a universe so vast it defies understanding,

Earth holds moments that speak in ways no other world can.

Perhaps one day, these photographs too will travel far —

across distance, across time —

not as records of human accomplishment,

but as quiet messages from Earth itself.

Honest. Beautiful. Alive.

These are moments from Earth.

Earth now stands at a threshold,

a time when what we once knew drifts away,

and something new begins to take shape.

A time when the seeds we saw today

will define the possibilities of tomorrow.

In this time of transformation, I hope my work draws

reflection:

As the essential element shaping the emerging future,

what seeds will we choose to plant?

For ourselves. For one another.

For Mother Earth.