Assembly-Line Princesses: Ethnic-themed Photography in Tibet

by Zixuan Zhang_ IntroductionIn the winter of 2024, I spent six weeks conducting fieldwork in ethnic-themed photography studios in Lhasa. Across China’s tourist cities, young women dress in “ethnic” costumes, sit for makeup sessions, and pose before cameras in scenic sites, their images later circulating on social media and short-video platforms. Since the rise of viral “head-to-toe wanghong [social media influencers] transformations from ordinary people,” these staged performances have beco...