Photography is an exchange. It fixes time and space, transcends time and space, and links history with reality, representation and reality, and body and soul. Since the beginning of this century, the photography works collected by CAFAM has gradually covered the history of photography in China and photography as art that plays an important role in connecting the past and present. “Chinese Pictures: from CAFAM Photography Collection” shows moments of history and connect time and space, as if a moveable feast.
As one of the most important public art institutions in China, CAFAM has been dedicated to collecting classic photographs that reflect the Chinese society and time characteristics since the beginning of this century. On the one hand, it focuses on collecting classic works of important Chinese and international photographers; on the other hand, it attaches importance to collecting outstanding works of photography students and young artists. Through efforts in the two directions, CAFAM gradually establishes a photography collection with time characteristics and art history value both in sequence and scale.
At present, CAFAM’s photography collection has taken its shape after years of accumulation. Since the Spectacle and Gaze exhibition in 2009, the museum has attached great importance to the selection of works in independently curated, high-level exhibitions, and has received strong support from artists and organizations. The museum has also accepted donations of classic works of famous photographers such as Liu Xiangcheng, Shigeo Anzai, Gu Zheng, Wang Chuan and Weng Naiqiang.
I. Looking Back in History-China in the Past
Exploring history is almost a human instinct. When people enter a new era, photography as a technical means helps us preserve memory of the past, while giveing an opportunity to new generations to trace back to where they come from. Behind the photography is control by human, so it not only records the scene objectively, but also organically carries the understanding of the photographer at the time. When photographs travel through time and space, engage in communication with the new generation, it not only presents history to the audience, but also shows the “present” in the eyes of people in the past, thus inspiring dialogues between different time and space.
When we look at the old photos taken in the middle and late 20th century, which show China through the lens of foreign or local photographers, it might awaken our dormant memories and stimulate dialogue between our present and past. As for what kind of chemical reaction will occur between the flowing crowd and the still images, it requires the audience to find out by themselves at the exhibition.
II. Analysis of Reality- Present China
What is reality? When the daily routine is shaped into one piece of artwork hung on the wall and confronting our gaze, is our life the same as what we see every day? Photography, as an invention of modern technology, dismisses the authenticity of painting with its realistic effect. However, in today’s world filled with photography, the authenticity of photography has also begun to be questioned. Can images in the age of image bombing still show us a real China? Behind the author's deliberate selection, the scattered landscape becomes subjective existence. When the audience look at photographs, do they see China in reality or in the eyes of the author? Or is it just China through mechanical lenses?
III. Artistic Exploration-Diversified Language
Compared with ancient paintings, photography may be regarded as a newborn baby. However, in a rapidly developing modern world, photography is no longer limited to traditional methods. It needs to develop a new creative language so as not to be abandoned by the times. How to break the shackle of traditional themes and produce new topics, new creative methods, new appreciation methods and so on, are all the photographers of current time need to actively explore. Behind the abstract, misplaced and absurd imagery is the artist's exploration of the times. Participating in the times, recording the times, and reflecting the times are the objectives CAFAM actively explores and discovers while building its own collection system.
Marc Riboud， Beijing 1957, 50×40cm, printed in 2010 with 1957 negative, Gelatin Silver Print, Collection of CAFAM
Agnès Varda，Beijing 3, 80×80cm, 1957, Digital Print, Collection of CAFAM
Hiroji Kubota， Shaving， 37×55.5cm， Time Unknown，Dye Transfer， Collection of CAFAM
Cheng Tsun-shing, Group Portraits of the Passengers, 42.6×62.5cm, 1976, Giclee Print, Collection of CAFAM
Weng Naiqiang, Chairman Mao meets the Red Guards for the first time, printed in 2013 with 1966 negative, Digital Inkjet Print, Collection of CAFAM
Jiang Jianqiu, Sweet Gannan, 36.5×50.2cm, 1995, Gelatin Silver Print, Collection of CAFAM
Jin Jiangbo, Shanghai, yeah! Shanghai: Engine Plan! 75×210cm, 2011, Giclee Print, Collection of CAFAM
Qu Yan, Dong'ergou Qikushan Goddess Church, Jinyuan District, Taiyuan City, 46.4×61.2cm, 2007, Collection of CAFAM
He Chongyue, Birth Control, 50×60cm, 2008, Giclee Print, Collection of CAFAM
Zhang Dali, Dialogue-Beichizi, 60x90cm, 1999, Digital Print, Collection of CAFAM
Wang Ningde, Visible Light - The Polarized Cloud No.1, 200×144×5cm, 2013, Mixed Materials, Collection of CAFAM
Zhang Chao, The Net, 250.8×101cm, 2014, Giclee Print, Collection of CAFAM
Jiang Pengyi, Unregistered City No.7, 150×207cm, 2010, Digital Print, Collection of CAFAM
Yao Lu, Visit to Plum Blossom after Snow, 137×97cm, 2012, Giclee Print, Collection of CAFAM
Translated by Wang Weiwei
Proofread by Lu Yufan
Edited by Zheng Lijun
