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This Is What China Looked Like In The 1980s
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To many locals born in Hong Kong in the 60s, Mainland China in the 70s & 80s was so near and yet so far. Although Mainland China was at the doorstep, it was like a land of mystery. I born in the early 60s, was devoted to photography in the late 70s. In the 80s, as a college student majoring in journalism, followed the fad of travelling in China, brought along my camera and kicked off my adventure.
At that time, I had only started photography for three or four years. Notwithstanding that I had limited knowledge about Chinese customs and culture, with my fervent passion, I many a time travelled to Mainland by rail. My adventure lasted occasionally for a few years, till my graduation.
Prior to being digitalised a decade ago, the slides were only stored in storage boxes and not even published. The reappearance of the images inspired my to host a photo exhibition, be it a summary of my young photography life, or as a sharing to young photographers: The photographs you take in your early life, could be the most invaluable ones. Keep up!
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#3 Bell Tower, Xi’an, 1984
#4 Trolleybus In Front Of The National Art Museum, Beijing, 1987
#5 Marble Boat At Summer Palace, Beijing, 1985
Way back when the air was still breathable. Now the air is just a huge smog clouding covering Péking & all the big cities of Chine. Also they still don't know how to keep their rivers, lakes and seas free of pollution. In the near future they will run out of drinkable water and will suffocate from lack of clean air. Other rising countries are in the same predicament, such as India, South America, Africa etc..
#6 Prairie, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, 1984
#7 Street Of Xuanwu Gate, Beijing, 1985
#10 Manchuria Railway From Late Qing Dynasty, Dalian, 1985
#17 While Horse Temple, Luoyang, 1984
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What do you think ?
wish there was a present picture next to each one to really get me excited.
I had the same thought, but then, these are not the type of images that could be candidates for comparison, well, some of them, maybe, but not all, as they're not all depicting a spacific place. Take this series as pictures of culture as a whole, rather than a past vs. present thing. I'm sure you do get the general picture anyway. Nowadays' China is famous for smog, overpopulation and factories, which is not what we see in these pictures. Also, you might want to compare them to the 1980's of your own country, that'd be an interesting viewpoint as well.
Here is a photo from weibo's blogger, it is 2017's Xi’an Bell Tower, you can compare #1 Bell Tower, Xi’an, 1984. xian-2017-...2c6f5b.jpg
Thanks👍
Right? I wanted to see how much changed. I can't understand why they didn't show a comparison so that we as an audience could see what makes these particular photos so special.
Xi'an Lately timg33-5a9...38a477.jpg
Great!
Hi Alex ! as a long time 'Photography Addict' , started in the late sixties , i should tell you that you certainly had (have -?) a knack for taking interesting photographs , which after years shying away in boxes can tell me about "how the other half" lived. For my 'particular' interest : were they on Kodachrome , II , 25 or 64 , or any other material . - i wish i knew where to have my last remaining rolls of K 25 & 64 processed ; i don't even remember what could be on them , but i sure would like to see the results ... if you would consider sharing anything , to me > hanszl19@gmail.com ... in front of my house , 2o16 DSC03603-5...a58296.jpg
wish there was a present picture next to each one to really get me excited.
I had the same thought, but then, these are not the type of images that could be candidates for comparison, well, some of them, maybe, but not all, as they're not all depicting a spacific place. Take this series as pictures of culture as a whole, rather than a past vs. present thing. I'm sure you do get the general picture anyway. Nowadays' China is famous for smog, overpopulation and factories, which is not what we see in these pictures. Also, you might want to compare them to the 1980's of your own country, that'd be an interesting viewpoint as well.
Here is a photo from weibo's blogger, it is 2017's Xi’an Bell Tower, you can compare #1 Bell Tower, Xi’an, 1984. xian-2017-...2c6f5b.jpg
Thanks👍
Right? I wanted to see how much changed. I can't understand why they didn't show a comparison so that we as an audience could see what makes these particular photos so special.
Xi'an Lately timg33-5a9...38a477.jpg
Great!
Hi Alex ! as a long time 'Photography Addict' , started in the late sixties , i should tell you that you certainly had (have -?) a knack for taking interesting photographs , which after years shying away in boxes can tell me about "how the other half" lived. For my 'particular' interest : were they on Kodachrome , II , 25 or 64 , or any other material . - i wish i knew where to have my last remaining rolls of K 25 & 64 processed ; i don't even remember what could be on them , but i sure would like to see the results ... if you would consider sharing anything , to me > hanszl19@gmail.com ... in front of my house , 2o16 DSC03603-5...a58296.jpg