August18,2002:Morethan100residentsfromBeijing’sXiaofangjiahutongposeforapictureholdingcardswiththeirnames,birthdatesandidentities.Twoandahalfmonthslater,thehutong,boastingahistoryofmorethan500yearsandhousingover200families,wasdemolishedalongwithitsneighboringones.byXuYongThisyearmarksthe40thanniversaryofChina’sreformandopeningup.DespiteChina’slong,richhistory,thelast40yearshavenodoubtbeenoneofthemostsplendidchapters,whicheveryChinesepersonhaswitnessedaswellascontributedto.Acrossthefourdecades,Chinesephotographershavealsoseizedeverychancetofreezetimelessimagesofthepeopleandtheirlives.
Theexhibition“China:40YearsthroughtheLens”openedattheNationalMuseumofChinaonAugust30,2018,presentingthegreatchangesthathavetakenplaceineconomy,culture,society,ecologyandpeople’slivelihoodsinthecountry.The216photographsondisplaywereselectedfrommorethan30,000submissions.
Itiseasytopinpointthecommonthreadsrunningthroughtheexhibition.OnetellsthestoryofthedevelopmentofthecountrythroughdepictingthelivesofordinaryChinesepeople.TheotherhighlightstheroleChinesephotographershaveplayedoverthepast40yearsofthecountry’sreformandopeningup.
ChenXiaobo,vicepresidentoftheChinaPhotographersAssociation,servedastheexecutivecuratoroftheexhibition.Choosingpicturesthatmostacutelyfocusedonthepast40yearsfromsuchalargevolumeofsubmissionspresentedagreatchallengeforher.1983:AttheNagquHorseRacingFestivalinNagquPrefectureofTibetAutonomousRegion,herdersplacerecordersontheedgeofthestagetorecordasongbyfolkartistsinperformance.Portablerecordersbecamepopularintheearly1980s.byTashiTseten
1990:AlaneoffShanghai’sGuizhouRoadishometo72households.byGongJianhuaTheterm“72households”hasbecomesynonymouswithcrampedhousinginShanghai.Theclassiccomedy72HouseholdssetinShanghaioncecausedasensation.Overthepastcentury,mostShanghainativeshavesufferedhousingproblems,sotheystillcitethetermandthedrama.In2012,thephotographervisitedthealleyagain.Itwasstilltherebuthecouldhardlyrecognizethepeoplelivingthere.Hedidmeetthewomanwhoiscarryingababyinthepicture,whohadmaturedintoanoldwoman.
1982:Beijing’sSubwayLine1.byRuSuichuOnSeptember20,1969,Beijing’sSubwayLine1runningfromBeijingRailwayStationtoPingguoyuanofShijingshanDistrictformallyopened.OnJanuary1,1982,Line2beganservice.Bytheendof2017,Beijinghad22subwaylinesacross608kilometersoftrack.
1982:LocalsplaybadmintonasmorningexerciseinJieyangCity,GuangdongProvince.byAnGeFuHaifeng,bornin1983inthecity,wongoldmedalsinmen’sdoublesattheRioandLondonOlympics.BadmintonissopopularinChinathatplayerscouldnumberasmanyas200million,accordingtoincompletestatistics.
October1996:AtasmallstationcalledQiangziluontherailwayroutefromBeijingtoQinhuangdaoCity,villagersselllocalspecialtiestopassengers.Thetrainstoppedforonlyfiveminutesandthestationlackedaplatform,sovillagersinventedanewmethodtoselltheirgoods.byZhouChaorongInthemid-1990s,Chinawasshiftingfromaplannedeconomytoamarketeconomy.Commerceprosperedacrossthecountry,asevidencedbytheaxiom“900millionoutofabillionChinesepeoplearebusinesspeople.”“Itendedtochoosethemostmodestandunadornedworkswhichcapturedetailsandtellastory,”saysChen.“AndIpassedonsimpleandcoarseimageswithevenstrongvisualimpactaswellasobscureandunprofessionalworks.Ialsoruledoutpicturesfeaturingonlygoodimagesbuthavingnoconnectiontothetimes.”
ThephotographsfreezemomentsintimefromthelivesoftheChinesepeople,preservinghistoricaltracesandpassionaswellaspoeticfeatures.Atthesametime,theybuildatimelineofChina’sreformandopeningup.
Afterselectingpictures,writingcaptionswasanothercrucialstep.Thecuratingteamagreedthatcaptionswereimportanttothephotosandthatawealthofinformationcouldenhancethe“strength”ofaphoto.Sotheydeliberatedoneachcaptioncarefullytoensureitoptimallynarratedastory.The200-pluspictureswereoriginallyaccompaniedbycaptionstotalingsome50,000Chinesecharacters,andthefinalversionkept30,000.Soeachcaptionaveragesabout200words.
Forexample,photographerAnGeshotapicturein1981ofcitizensplayingbadmintononaplaygroundinJieyangCity,GuangdongProvince.ItscaptionmentionedthatFuHaifeng,bornin1983inthecity,laterwongoldmedalsinmen’sdoublesattheRioandLondonOlympicsandthatbadmintonissopopularinChinathatplayerscouldnumberasmanyas200millionaccordingtoincompletestatistics.
Thecuratingteamhopestheaudiencelikenstheexperiencetoreadingabookorwatchingaplayratherthanjusthavingalookatabunchofphotos.