Magnum China
With China established as a superpower and rarely out of the news owing to rancorous trade and territorial disputes, this collection of images by Magnum photographers is very timely. Covering mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Magnum China covers a period of seismic transformation, from 1938 to 2017.
The book begins when China as a nation state was wilting under sustained attack from its neighbour, Japan, and violent political factionalism. The first image, taken in 1938 by Robert Capa, shows a mob of hungry, desperate people at the European perimeter in Hankou, one of the few areas protected from Japanese bombing. The final images, taken in 2015 and 2017, depict a much more affluent and rapidly modernising society. So the book shows how much China and associated regions have changed, but it also celebrates great documentary photography, and there are many examples of masters at work.
Oppressive presence
Marc Riboud, for example, was active in the country during the 1960s, capturing the drabness and background hum of fear that characterised this high watermark of Maoism. Although there are no images in the book showing the violence of the Cultural Revolution, even Riboud’s picture of divorce proceedings looks sinister, with the couple facing a panel of officials in a stark office. The oppressive presence of Mao’s regime and its enforcers in the general population looms large over a lot of the images from this period. There are moments of light relief, nonetheless; kids will generally find a way to have fun.
The images also capture the vastness and cultural diversity of the Middle Kingdom. Chinese photographer Lu Nan and the Italian Paolo Pellegrin provide some wonderful images of ethnic minorities from Tibet and other far-flung regions, who continue to struggle to keep their identity and traditions alive in the face of distrust and hostility from Beijing.
China remains a communist country, but following the Tiananmen Square protests (memorably captured by Stuart Franklin in the book) and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the party wisely allowed the population to try two other ‘-isms,’ capitalism and consumerism. As China’s priorities shifted, so does the emphasis in the images. Martin Parr captures gaudy shopping malls, while other contemporary photographers capture the sense of alienation and dislocation created by a society modernising at vertiginous speed.
This book is essential reading for all documentary photography enthusiasts, or anyone interested in this gargantuan country and its vast history. ★★★★ ★ Geoff Harris