Reflection on Old Photos

Author: Feng Keli
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: The birth of photography has provided a vivid and stable reference for people to understand history. Compared to written records, photographs are often more direct and certain. With the click of a camera's shutter, a scene of history is frozen in time. A single photograph and a piece of past, though narrating only the experience of an individual or a family, may seem insignificant. Yet at the same time, they inadvertently reflect the history of a nation, a country. Without "the people," how can there be "the nation"? Without "the family," how can there be "the country"? Ultimately, nations and countries are merely collections of countless individuals and families. Whether Old Photos is considered "official history" or something akin to "alternative history" is irrelevant. What matters is starting with the small details and restoring history to its original face, allowing people to glean some understanding and wisdom from photographs and historical facts. Even if the "credentials" are not clear, is that not already a joy? What Old Photos does is simply bring back to a truly "equal-stage" platform the great and small figures who have always lived under the same sky: as they perform their respective lives, they also weave together a unique tapestry of their era.