The Hilton Sanya Resort and Spa's giant Laguna pool became the studio for a German photographer who took pictures of Chinese faces while their bodies were submerged in the water. The human face, the most individual attribute of every person on Earth, has long been a favorite subject for artists. Roland Fischer, a German photographer is also keen on collecting faces and he brings his new work on Chinese faces to the Shanghai Exhibition Center this weekend. The "China Pool Portraits 2007" exhibition is similar to his Los Angeles Portraits (1989-93). Individuals are submerged to their clavicles in a swimming pool. Their accoutrements of personality, such as clothing, accessories or contextualising props, have been left in the changing room and their deadpan expressions reveal nothing about their mood or temperament. Even hairstyles are mostly hair-up so that the portrait gives away little about the socio-economic status of the sitter or even the era in which they live. The pool is as important as the faces in the portraits; the water blocks our view of the body, yet provides a monochrome backdrop with implied depth, against which to project our expectations. "People say that my personality is revealed clearly in my picture. I've tried hard to recall what was on my mind at that moment but failed," said Zhu Zhu, a model for one of Fischer's portrait photographs. "I think Fischer grasped the moment I was thinking about nothing and revealed the true me." "He said that there're a lot of interpretations of his works. A friend told him that he saw the birth of human being through the pictures, as the model seemed to be emerging from the water. But Roland didn't think that much when he set up the photo. Said Fischer: "All my original intention was about a strong contrast between the human body and the blue water. I'm always impressed by the strong feeling evoked when a human face is surrounded by something in a picture." Fischer was devoted to portrait work throughout the 80s and 90s. His portraits of nuns and monks in 1987 brought him instant fame. "The nuns and monks portraits were also about the same idea - having the human face surrounded by a scarf," said Fischer. "The scarf is a background and the pool is another one." Although some of these series of portraits have been compiled digitally, none has been manipulated in any way. Even the sonorous blues of the pools in the portraits have not been digitally enhanced. Fischer tends to work only with the camera and natural and artificial lights. Often this involves situations that are quite demanding. A chance encounter with Dirk De Cuyper, the general manager of the Hilton Sanya Resort and Spa, gave Fischer a great studio in which to work - the Hilton Sanya Resort and Spa's Laguna pool reputed to be China's largest pool. Talking about the decision to provide the pool, Cuyper said that he found something in common with his job and Fischer's when he saw Fischer's previous artworks-they are both promoting the beautiful things. "Fischer is promoting the beautiful people in China while I'm promoting a beautiful beach," he said.