'I got stuck in the UK and rediscovered my childhood dream'

The loneliness felt by many during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic culminated in an unexpected career change for one creative student.

After moving to the UK from China in 2020, Yu Wang found herself studying for her Master's degree alone from her studio flat in Sheffield.

With no in-person teaching and an empty social calendar, the now-30-year-old ended up seeking comfort in a childhood hobby.

"Because I'm the only person in my family who could travel abroad to study, I wanted to capture lots of beautiful moments and send the pictures to my parents," she said.

"When I first arrived in Sheffield, I shot everything – squirrels, flowers, buildings – I wanted to share it all."

But with the weight of being alone in a new country, and never being able to meet her lecturers or classmates at the University of Sheffield, Yu felt isolated.

"The only thing I could do was grab my camera and take a bus, maybe to the Peak District, far away from people," she said.

"I took my camera and lens and focused on people. I can feel [that] they feel very lonely."

One photo in her collection shows the back of a young man, alone on a park bench, with leafless winter branches framing him in the image.

Another shows an elderly gentleman with a walking stick ambling down a country path on a similarly overcast day, with a white dog.

"Lots of people tell me the pictures make them feel sad, I was like, 'oh I'm so sorry!' – I [didn't] mean that.

"I just want people to remember that difficult time, and in the future, they will cherish their time spent with family and with friends."

Yu planned to go back to her family and become a teacher in 2021 with her Master's degree in cultural heritage management, but pandemic restrictions diverted her plans once again.

When five of her flights home to Dongyang were cancelled, she successfully applied to have her tenancy and student visa extended, and decided to stay in the UK and look for work.

"I was trying to find something to do," Yu said.

"My mum said, 'if you can't find a job, just try to use your camera… maybe you can have some customers who want graduation photos or portraits done'."

Since she last saw her parents five years ago, Yu has done exactly that.

She now has "a lot of customers", and has been the official photographer for the World Snooker Tournament and Lunar Chinese New Year in Sheffield.

"I think without her suggestion, maybe I wouldn't have done it - I don't know," Yu said.

"It is about timing. And it was perfect timing when I came to Sheffield."

Yu said she is "very excited" to get some "proper" training which, surprisingly, she has never had before.

"It's always good to learn something new - you get new skills and knowledge, but also you get new friends," she said.

"I feel a little bit nervous - I don't know if I can do it very well. Maybe they will say you're not a good photographer."

The demand for her work makes this seem unlikely, however, with a whole host of exhibitions of her work scheduled for 2025.

One of two exhibitions in Sheffield, on 10 February at the Octagon, focuses on the Lunar Chinese New Year – bringing an important cultural holiday for Yu to the city she has made her home.

"Photos become a bridge to connect people from different cultural backgrounds. I want to use mine to create memories for communities," she said.

She will spend spring and summer in China, having some long-overdue time with her family and exhibiting the portraits, views and moments she captured in the UK.

One of the exhibitions, showing throughout March, will be called "the view in Sheffield".

She said: "I want to use my photos to tell stories. That single frame has lots of depth and feelings and emotions.

"Even though people speak different languages, using our art like photography or performance lets people connect."

From her first photos of squirrels and trees sent her parents in lockdown to the graduations, cultural and sporting events she has covered since, Yu's portfolio is now rich and varied.

She has built it up to the point that freelancing – which was challenging at first – is "going easy", she said, something she still cannot believe.

"Being a photographer was my dream when I was a child.

"All I wanted was to show my parents, 'this is Sheffield, this is the city where I need to spend lots of time'.

"It is [still] like a dream - it is a very unbelievable thing for me."

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