Photographing China II

Pentax KS-1 with 1:2,4/35mm lens and two LED panels mounted on a tripod. I trigger the shutter with a remote control. Not the most professional setup, but it gets the job done surprisingly well.

And this is what really brought me to China: Photographing old periodicals in the libraries of Shanghai. The main objective this time? Xinwen zhaopian (news photos), a catalog published by the Xinhua News Agency twice every week, for newspapers, magazins and other work units of the media sphere to select and order pictures from. It covers the period from 1958 to 1987 with barely a gap inbetween and is as close to the “photographic mainstream” during those years as you can get.

Photographing China

Me in Qingdao, late February 2017. Photo taken by Ni Shaofeng.

After short stays in Yukuhashi and Qingdao I finally arrived in Shanghai to undertake some research, namely to collect more source material for my thesis. (more on this in a few days) I hope to find some time for my own photography here too, but we will see how that turns out.