Jialin Long was born in Beijing and came to Ireland to study for a Masters in Electronic Engineering in 2006. After working seven years as an engineer in an Irish firm, Jialin made a swift career change in 2014. She took a PLC photography course at Pearse College and went on to graduate with first-class honours from IADT, winning a Gallery of Photography Ireland Graduate Award in 2020.

In 2020 she was awarded a Creative Ireland & Dublin City Council Diversity Commission. For this Public Art Commission curated by Gallery of Photography Ireland and presented in 2021, Jialin wanted to challenge the stereotyping of the Chinese community in Ireland.

In her work, she focused particularly on how the association of Chinese people with restaurants and takeaways inhibits a more nuanced understanding. She collaborated actively with those she photographed to build a deeper and more expressive series of portraits of this diverse but under-represented ethnic community.