巫鸿丨中国当代摄影40年（一）—— 1976-1979

Introduction:

40 Years of ChineseContemporary Photography

by: Wu Hung

Though a widely used term with an international currency, “contemporaryphotography” actually lacks a common definition. Some western museums employhistorical events (such as the end of World War II) as baselines when buildingtheir collections and organizing exhibitions, while researchers often connect thecontemporaneity of photography with the development of technology and the conceptof this visual form. These written and unwritten definitions are all based onspecific historical experiences and current situations, as well as academicresearch and photographic institutions in different places.

Regarding China,contemporary photography has a relatively clear-cut starting point—forty yearsago in 1976/1977. But it is equally clear that in the wake of societal, economic, and culturalshifts domestically and internationally, the concept of Chinese contemporaryphotography has undergone major changes along with developments in photographyitself. On the basis ofthese changes, this exhibition divides the progress of Chinese contemporaryphotography into four major phases: “The Rise of Unofficial Photography(1976–1979),” “New Wave Photography (1980-1989),” “Experimental Photography(1990-2006),”and the establishment of experimental photography organizationsfrom 2007 to the present. 

The Rise of Unofficial Photographic Groups and Exhibitions (1976–1979)

Three events from 1976 and 1979 together constituted a turning point in the history of Chinese photography. First, a group of amateur photographers formed an unofficial network, systematically documenting the mass mourning of Premier Zhou Enlai's passing and compiling their photographs into volumes for public dissemination. Known as the April Fourth Movement Photographs, these images preserved people's memories of the incident and played an important role at a critical moment in contemporary Chinese history.

The second significant phenomenon was the emergence of coterie photography groups. One of the earliest such communities in Beijing was the Every Friday Salon comprised of more than thirty members, which began meeting in the winter of 1976. Another group in Beijing, whose members had generally participated in April Fifth Movement Photography, started meeting regularly in 1977. These spontaneously formed communities brought young people with photographic ambitions together. In the more relaxed political atmosphere after the Cultural Revolution, they began to acquaint themselves with information and materials related to the history of photography, and to explore the characteristics of photography as a unique art form.

The third event from this period—the founding of the April Photo Society in early 1979 and their first exhibition Nature, Society and Man which opened in April—was an unequivocal milestone in the history of contemporary Chinese photography. The exhibition featured 170 works by 45 artists, many of whom were amateur photographers. The exhibition's preface clearly expressed the aim of fostering an “art for art's sake,” liberating photography from the confines of political propaganda. The exhibited works reflected three general tendencies: reembracing humanistic values, returning to nature, and representing society. Some of the images lead viewers to contemplate the beauty and tranquility of the natural world, while other images explored the realm of human emotion and captured minute details of daily life. Their humanistic spirit and aesthetic awareness felt extremely fresh in Chinese art after the Cultural Revolution, explaining the great public affinity for this exhibition.

 

Featured Artists