Yan Cong (b.1991) is an independent photographer based in Beijing, China. She focuses most of her long-term projects on women’s issues, China's rural-urban transition, and China’s relations with its neighbors.
Yan splits her time between long-term projects and editorial assignments. Her work has been published internationally on The New York Times, The Washington Post, ChinaFile, Smithsonian Magazine, Caixin Magazine, Sixth Tone and so on.
In 2015, Yan was selected to participate in the Angkor Photo Workshop and the New York Portfolio Review. She received a student grant from Oslo University College for her long-term project on Cambodian women migrating to China for marriage. In 2016, she received a grant from the Abigail Cohen Fellowship in Documentary Photography co-founded by ChinaFile and Magnum Foundation, and a grant from Guyu, a foundation founded by Tencent to support non-fiction work. Yan was selected as one of the six global talents in Asia by World Press Photo's 6x6 program. She has been nominated for the Joop Swart Masterclass in 2016, 2017 and 2019. Yan is a Logan Nonfiction Fellow at Carey Institute for Global Good.
Yan is the co-founder of Far & Near, a newsletter highlighting stories created and published by Chinese visual journalists, artists, and filmmakers that are not typically seen internationally. She is a member of Women Photograph.
Yan holds an M.S. in journalism from Columbia Journalism School, and is currently pursuing a research M.A. in media studies at University of Amsterdam.