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Photography and China EXPOSURESis a series of books on photography designed to explore the rich history of the medium from thematic perspectives. Each title presents a striking collection of images and an engaging, accessible text that offers intriguing insights into a specific theme or subject. Series editors: Mark Haworth-Booth and Peter Hamilton Also published Photography and AfricaErin Haney Photography and Anthropology Christopher Pinney Photography and ArchaeologyFrederick N. Bohrer Photography and AustraliaHelen Ennis Photography and China Claire Roberts Photography and CinemaDavid Campany Photography and DeathAudrey Linkman Photography and EgyptMaria Golia Photography and Flight Denis Cosgrove and William L. Fox Photography and IrelandJustin Carville Photography and ItalyMaria Antonella Pelizzari Photography and JapanKaren M. Fraser Photography and LiteratureFrançois Brunet Photography and ScienceKelley Wilder Photography and Spirit John Harvey Photography and TravelGraham Smith Photography and the USAMick Gidley Photography and China Claire Roberts reaktion books For Nick Published by Reaktion Books Ltd 33 Great Sutton Street ec1v 0dx London www.reaktionbooks.co.uk 2013 First published 2013 Copyright © Claire Roberts All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. Printed and bound in Hong Kong British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data 1959 Roberts, Claire, – Photography and China. –(Exposures) 1 2 . Photography –China –History. . Photographers – China –History. I. Title II. Series 770.9’51-dc23 isbn978 1 86189 911 8 Contents Introduction 7 one China Exposed 11 two The True Record 41 three China Modern 65 four War and Propaganda 91 five Reportage and New Wave 121 six U-Turn 150 seven Performing into the Present 160 Glossary of Chinese Names and Terms 184 References 187 Select Bibliography 191 Acknowledgements 194 Photo Acknowledgements 195 Index 196 Introduction In China photography has played an extraordinary role in the transfor- mation of visual culture, touching on many aspects of people’s lives. Unlike traditional forms of expression, such as brush-and-ink painting, the new technology offered a powerfully modern, seemingly objective representation of reality mediated through the lens. This situation was not unique to China, but in China photography developed in distinctive ways and that story of response and creative adaptation is the subject of this book. Prior to photography, distant parts of the world were known to armchair travellers through drawings, paintings and textual description. Understandings were refracted in translation and transmission. The earli- 1840 est identified photographs of China were taken in the s by visiting military personnel, diplomats, traders and wanderers, who sought to document what they saw in the interests of geopolitical ambition and trade, and to satisfy the curiosity of people back home. With the advent of photography, Chinese people and places were exposed to the outside world as never before. Chinese artists working in Macao, Hong Kong and Guangzhou (Canton), gateways of the China trade, had long catered to the foreign demand for souvenir paintings and cheap portrait renditions, adopting techniques of oil painting on canvas and board, gouache, and water- colour on ivory. They recognized the commercial potential of 1 Liu Heung Shing, A Student Skates Past photography, learning the craft from visiting Western practitioners or Mao’s Giant Statue at Dalian Technology from translations of Western texts. Over time photography was adapted University, Liaoning Province, 1981, gelatin silver print. to local mores and customs and was embraced as a medium that offered 7 commercial, promotional and artistic agency. Through a process of cul- tural encounter and transfer, like painting in its absorption of introduced materials and techniques, photography became a Chinese medium, used for a wide variety of public and private purposes. This book explores the introduction of photography to China, how the medium was understood in technological and cultural terms, and how it has been applied. It is a story about East–West exchange and the dynamic dialogue arising from foreign incursion and Chinese sojourning overseas, involving a medium that has always been at the heart of techno- logical, economic and cultural change. The story is entwined with the history of the Chinese world itself, never more turbulent than in the period documented by photography, a narrative of extreme twists and turns, progress and retreat, deep continuity and ongoing transformation. The 1840 narrative begins with daguerreotypes of the s and concludes with present-day digital images, highlighting the work of mainland Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese photographers who have used photographic media for news, commerce and propaganda, as well as personal and artistic expression. While my primary focus is the work of Chinese photographers, reference will also be made to the work of some key non- Chinese photographers in acknowledgment of photography’s history as an international medium and the important role that such photographers have played in creating images of China for an international public. While many books have been written about photography and China, 1840 there is no overview in English of the subject from the s to the present, nor a sustained discussion of individual photographs covering this time span that draws attention to the perspective of the photographer. This book offers a series of thematic essays that consider selected photographs, yet in a wide-ranging and perhaps provocative way. Space and image limitations have imposed restrictions on the narrative. The photographs, arrayed in gallery-like sequences, have been chosen for their visual presence, historic significance and power to illuminate an aspect of the narrative. Owing to problems of identification and dating associated with much of the early photography in China, and the importance of the perspective of the photographer, I have privileged the work of Chinese 8 photographers and subjects, and preferred photographs where the detail of
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