Ordinary Chinese People In 1970’s (45 photos)

Seem to be from the late 1970s, right after the Culture Revolution's over. People were generally happy anticipating the new era ahead.

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So these are by Eve Arnold, a Magnum photographer who toured China in 1979. A book titled In China was published in 1980.
 
Thank you Peter. I enjoyed these. Love the color palette.
 
EA1D114B-B2C2-45AF-B1A0-EF80C5C8A14B by ray tai, on Flickr

I’ll plug a few of my own. Mid 90’s Shanghai. The hospital in the foreground and in fact the city blocks are no longer there replaced by luxury hotels and malls. My first job as a young man was to manage the development contract turning an adjacent piece of land into an office building.
 
4F8368E3-AEEC-46F7-A4DC-60395D715C8A by ray tai, on Flickr

Man flying a kite in Hangzhou Westlake district. Don’t remember much about it except it was mid 90’s. Hangzhou and the nearby “water towns” so called because of the canals like Dutch cities are simply beautiful to this day. I have photos somewhere. The novice me let the camera meter the sky instead of the subject resulting in a two stop underexposure. Thanks to Photoshop HDR saving the shot which then later justifying a move to digital. This is one of the shots l like but can’t get a good darkroom print.
 
dourbalistar said:
Nice photos! However, it seems like they are copied/taken from a photobook, and unfortunately, I did not see any attribution or mention of the photographer. Upon some further research, the photos are by Eve Arnold, a Magnum photographer. They are taken from her In China: Photographs by Eve Arnold book, published in 1980 and featuring photos taken in 1979.

https://www.culture24.org.uk/art/photography-and-film/art51776
Click to expand...

Thank you for that bit of info Archlich and dourbilstar. I was wondering about it myself. They do not come much better than Eve Arnold in her heyday.
 
great thread. "Silk Road" TV series produced in early 1980's in cooperation of Japanese and Chinese TV channels is fascinating journey in just-opening up China.

my earliest memory of China from around this time is street footage by TV news showing big crowds traveling in the morning for work by bicycle. maybe one or two old trucks in the mix, only bicyclers!
 
Michelangelo Antonioni ('Blow Up', 'The Passenger') went to China directed and produced 'Chung Kuo' (China), a 3 1/2 hr documentary on China in 1972...

https://youtu.be/Z9tAd_-2AoM

'The Eight Hundred' (2020) directed by Tiger Guan,

The film is about the Chinese Nationalist troops defense of 'Sihang Warehouse' in 1937 Shanghai during the Battle of Shanghai and the Second Sino-Japanese War...(the first one's in 1894 China lost, resulting in Taiwan ceded to Japan)

Very realistic, 'The Eight Hundred'
https://youtu.be/kbikn8Q148c?t=4

the Chinese (a movie extra)

Taipei, Taiwan

a taipei-metro photo

Nikon F3, Nikon 35mmF2
Fuji 200
 
Taipei-metro said:
Michelangelo Antonioni ('Blow Up', 'The Passenger') went to China directed and produced 'Chung Kuo' (China), a 3 1/2 hr documentary on China in 1972...

https://youtu.be/Z9tAd_-2AoM

'The Eight Hundred' (2020) directed by Tiger Guan,

The film is about the Chinese Nationalist troops defense of 'Sihang Warehouse' in 1937 Shanghai during the Battle of Shanghai and the Second Sino-Japanese War...(the first one's in 1894 China lost, resulting in Taiwan ceded to Japan)

Very realistic, 'The Eight Hundred'
https://youtu.be/kbikn8Q148c?t=4

the Chinese (a movie extra)

a taipei-metro photo

Nikon F2, Nikon 35mmF2
Fuji 200
Click to expand...

Nice one! You took this on the set? Were you part of the crew?
 
Thanks Peter, closed societies are always a mystery. I wish I'd taken more photos when I went through Nicaragua in the very early '70s. That was right before the Sandanistas. It was a wonderful place, sure there was poverty but alive.
 
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