Supreme Golden Lotus (Photographic Report on the Last Generation of Foot-Bound Women in China)

Author: Li Nan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: A 24-year continuous photographic reportage, documenting China's last generation of foot-binding women! A custom spanning over a thousand years, the fate of two billion women, is about to end. This book records the final pages of the long and painful history of foot-binding! This is a photographic work that captures the foot-binding custom practiced by approximately two billion Chinese women over more than a thousand years on the vast land of China. Photographer Li Nan spent 24 years traveling across various provinces and regions, including Shandong, Yunnan, Beijing, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and others, unhesitatingly focusing his lens on the lives of the last generation of foot-binding women on the brink of extinction. Pay attention to foot-binding, pay attention to the journey of foot-binding among Chinese women, pay attention to the current lives of foot-binding women, and pay attention to this group of special people marked by their era as China moves towards modernization—documenting the final pages of this long and painful history of foot-binding.
Author Bio: Li Nan was born in Jinan, Shandong Province in 1961. In 1989, he graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Shandong Art Institute. In 1990 and 1996, he held personal photography exhibitions in Jinan and Beijing. In 1993, he began working as a news photographer and served as a photojournalist for Shandong Huabao and Dazhong Ribao. His photographic works have been published in magazines such as LEICAWORLD (Germany), ColorFoto (Germany), ASIANWEEK (U.S.), M (Netherlands), GRAZIA (Italy), and others. In 1995 and 1996, he won the first prize and special award in the professional category of the 2nd and 3rd Canon Cup "Beauty of Asia" competitions, respectively. In 1996, he received a gold medal at the 39th World Press Photo (WPP) competition, a special award at the 1996 SSF World Sports Photography Grand Prix, and the highest individual achievement award in Chinese photography—the Jinxiang Award. In 1997, he won the only gold medal at the 24th Black and White Biennial Exhibition of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP). In 1998, he was honored as an outstanding photographer with both artistic and moral integrity in China. In 1998, China Photographic Publishing House published his photobook Li Nan's Reportage Photography. In 2000, CCTV's Eastern Stars program aired a personal interview with him. In 2001 and 2004, his photographic works were exhibited at the Pingyao International Photography Festival. In 2002, he won the Bingxin Photography Literature Award. In June 2004, six of his photographic works were collected by the Guangdong Art Museum. In 2005, he published the personalphotography collection Jueshi Jinlian (Black Lens series). In 2005, he was featured in a personal interview with the British BBC, and held a personal photography exhibition at the 798 Art Zone's Century Impressions Photography Gallery in Beijing.