I went to an extremely fascinating presentation at the Frontline Club last night by Liu Heung Shing (HS), called 'China - Portrait of a Country'.
HS, a pulitzer-prize winning photographer, spoke about the 'development' of China over the past 60 years and then displayed a selection of images from the book (of the same name as the talk) accompanied by Chinese music.
The images, many of them taken by HS himself, gave a fascinating insight into the work of 88 Chinese photographers chronicling arguably the most intense and World-changing period in Chinese history. Interestingly, many of the images were propaganda, and when asked about them HS said that many of the photographers needed a lot of convincing to allow them to be shown, because they felt they showed China in a poor light.
HS's intention with this book was to 'save' many of the images from being lost. Many of the photographers are now very old and HS felt that once they had passed away, their archives may also 'pass away' without ever being shown (which would be a travesty). When asked about modern China and the Olympics, HS commented that China is trying to find comfort with being part of the wider World. Up until now, China has done everything to try and 'prove' itself to the World, with as much fanfare as possible, but in time HS feels (and the Olympics may have helped here) that China may find happiness through less fanfare. However, as has been proved time and again, China is still uncomfortable with open media, but the proliferation of new media and the growth of media/photography courses in Chinese universities and colleges, is helping to overcome this.
All in all, I thought the images were startling, providing a unique insight into an almost secretive world, and they have inspired me to want to see the real China for myself.
