Yan is a member of the British Royal Photographic Society and the China Photographers Association. He was born in Hunan Province in 1979 and now works in Beijing. He has studied traditional Chinese and oil paintings since his childhood, and majored in art design at university. At present, he is engaged in portrait art as well as photographing for commercial advertisement and star actors. His works have already won more than 70 awards in various photograph competitions in China, Austria, Ukraine, France, Belgium, Hong Kong and Macao. He has held several solo exhibitions.