Michael Lau [Photo by Wing Shya/Provided to China Daily]

War photographer... Oh yes, I would take the challenge to go to a place of war and immerse myself. I went to Israel, and I love the place and the people. It has a very different feel. I would shoot love in a war environment.

Judging my work from the early days, I can have a very surprising reaction. I can have a feeling like "Wow, that's great" and it feels like it was done by somebody else. Maybe it's because I was younger, therefore there is a detachment from the person I am now. You realise everything happens in a moment and each moment is different and special.

Last year, I went to the jungle for two weeks. No WiFi, nothing. I photographed nature. Your eyes see things differently. My house had no doors and every day, at 4.30pm sharp, the same butterfly came to visit me. I could see it so close… you experience some very intimate moments with yourself and nature.

When I was young, I thought it was all about fame and what you want to be. But when you think you have what you wanted, you see things very differently. Now I really enjoy seeing things for real. When you're young, you miss all the little details in the world; you're so busy fighting for professional work you don't have time to see things.

Instagram photos are so cool! Yes, a lot of people think it's shit photography but I like it. It's interesting because it's about sharing moments. And in some ways I'm quite envious of it. I can see what common people are doing and that becomes very interesting. You can feel people's hearts when you look at Instagram. You can see unknowns. You can see the thinking and what people believe. Instagram does all that to me when I look at it.