Recorded in Beijing: Impressions of the 1980s: Impressions of the 1980s

Author: Qian Yu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-08-01
Features: The photographs by Mr. Qian Yu were taken from the late 1970s to the late 1980s, with the shooting locations limited to some public places in Beijing that were accessible to everyone. Yet, he began with the small details of daily life and meticulously sketched a history of the lives of Chinese people in the early stages of the reform and opening-up. A visualized social life history of the Chinese people should and can be composed of photographs taken by both true photography enthusiasts and professional practitioners. If professional practitioners are writing history, then amateur practitioners are sketching history. Only those with a rich inner world can capture photographs with rich content. Mr. Qian’s photographs are not without humor, sometimes even a bit teasing, all of which are sent out with a warm gaze and ultimately return to his negatives. Each of his photographs preserves the temperature of past realities, precipitating the lingering fragrance of history. His photographs are like gentle gazes touching the eyes of reality, stirring up ripples that are natural and. He focuses on the seemingly insignificant small things, yet these small things are closely related to the fluctuations of the real world. With such photographs, he witnesses the era for us and preserves history. As a photography enthusiast, Mr. Qian Yu, while focusing on capturing the daily lives of Beijing citizens in public spaces, brings the people in his photography (the photographer, the subject, and the onlooker) into sharp focus in his images. These Chinese people in front of and behind the lens become his subjects of observation. Although his photography skills were not yet advanced at the time, his unique perspective and sense of humor allowed us to see the rich humanity inspired and expressed by the modern ritual of being photographed. From his photographs, we discover that photography has become a medium that awakens the long-suppressed self. From the unique angle of "Taking Photos," we can see that the spiritual outlook and life attitudes of the Chinese people begin to undergo substantive changes through their interaction with photography. Looking back now, the personality and self-confirmation revealed through this photographic activity will certainly extend to other aspects of their lives and exert a subtle influence on their social lives. And perhaps this is the profound yet invisible impact that photography has on human consciousness and modern life.