A view of Zhejiang Road Bridge spanning Suzhou Creek in Jing'an district in 2009. [PHOTO BY ZHENG XIANZHANG FOR CHINA DAILY]

In 1996, Zheng returned to Shanghai and worked as a photographer at the Shanghai Pictorial. Two years later, the company published his works on nude photography in a book that was the first of its kind in China.

Besides documenting the beauty of the human body, Zheng was also deeply interested in capturing landscapes. Suzhou Creek, one of the branches of the Yangtze River in Shanghai, as well as residents of shikumen buildings along the river banks, have always been his prime subjects.

Through his photos, people can see the changes in the water body, from when it was heavily polluted in the 1990s to when it was cleaned up after a series of environmental measures were implemented by the city government.