home
|
about
|
news
|
contents
|
gossip
|
photographs
|
venues
|
brighton
|
dublin
|
edinburgh
|
film
|
features
|
interviews
|
awards
|
fashion
|
recipes
|
no more drinks
|
newsletter
|
links
|
contact
Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Photographic Exhibitions -
Li Zhensheng - Red-Colour News Soldier
Hou Bo, Xu Xiaobing - Mao's Photographers
Verdict: Testimony of Mao's devastation
These are two exhibitions about the brutal, ruthless, and dictatorial ruling of China by Mao Zedong from 1949 (and, effectively, long before) till his death in 1976.
One concentrates on pictures of Mao by his pair of official photographers, the lovers Hou Bo and Xu Xiaobing. The other shows the devastation of the Cultural Revolution through the lens of a provincial journalist photographer, Li Zhensheng. All three photographers took their salaries and subject-matter from the regime or its approved news organisations - and occasional punishment.
Mao's Photographers - Hou Bo (b 1924), Xu Xiaobing (b 1915) - 5, Great Newport Street Hou Bo joined Mao Zedong's revolutionaries as a barefoot peasant girl, ending up as his official photographer. Xu Xiaobing shot idealised movies of Mao Zedong, joining his army in Yanan in 1937.
The two photographers met, fell in love, married, and spent 1950 to 1962 photographing every detail of Mao Zedong's official and private life. They took all the vast pictures turning Mao Zedong into the Prophet, Peasant, Educator, Internationalist - and the image that spread worldwide via Andy Warhol's reproduction of 'Mao The Great Helmsman'. Together they share in the heavy responsibility of turning a man some may consider one of the most savage and ruthless dictators of the 20th century into a cult.
Hou Bo refused Mao Zedong's third wife (for whom he ditched his second wife dying of cancer in a Moscow hospital) Jiang Qing's order to become her official photographer. Hou Bo was sentenced to hard labour from 1968-1972. On release she was forced to scrub the floors of the state news agency of which she'd formerly been principal photographer, before being rehabilitated. Within 4 years, the Great Helmsman was dead, the process of cleansing China of his memory commencing immediately. Jiang Qing was arrested, and committed suicide in 1991.
The exhibition shows black and white photographs of Mao Zedong's public and private life. The familiar idealised pictures of Mao as a mythical character are in colour, located overhead in the gallery's restaurant area.
There's a powerful photograph of Mao Zedong at the Temple of Heaven, touching a 1,000 year-old tree in September 1949 (Xu Xiaobing); he's in beret and looks almost shyly out to the right. Many of the pictures make symbolic links to permanence, and China's past. There's another of Mao Zedong at the Ming emperors' tomb (September 1949, Hou Bo): he lies on a mattress, cap off, mug of tea nearby, and walking stick, briefcase, as other men watch: he looks like a tramp with a begging cup, touched with the innocence of a child. The symbolism links him to the rule of kings, coinciding with his declaration of the new People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Suare on 1 October 1949.
Hou Bou photographs Mao Zedong bathing with 23 others at Lushan in 1959. It's hard to believe now that he was regarded by many in China as divine - the picture shows a fat man in a towel, with pendulous breasts, fag in mouth, dyed hair, smirking. He was taking time off from the Lushan International Conference of the Chinese Communist Party - he was a founder in 1921, taking control at the Zunyi Conference during the Long March (6,000 miles escape of Communists from Jiangxi to Yan'an, 1934/5) - during which he purged Marshal Peng Dehuai, replaced him with Lin Biao, and posed for this genteel photograph.
Hou Bo catches Mao Zedong in The Chairman At Work On A Plane, 1957. It's a fabulous head-and-shoulders shot; he's in a trench coat, fag in holder in left hand, working on notes with right, lit by an electric Art Nouveau lamp. It's Bogart in Casablanca, the Chairman as a film-noir hood. There's a zig-zag of cavalry across desert sand-dunes '3rd Cavalry Squadron On Manoeuvres In Shaanxi-Gansu-Niagxia Province 1943' by Xu Xiaobing, gloriously redolent of Lawrence of Arabia - a masterpiece of composition.
These pictures form a fascinating record of myth, state propaganda, deception, and the illusion of the mechanical eye. Some may consider that these mechanisms routinely underpin the actions of contemporary Western governments. Mao Zedong's personal photographers bear a heavy responsibility for perfecting the craft - as the persuasive, seductive elegance of these photographs shows.
Li Zhensheng (b 1940) - Red-Colour News Soldier - A Chinese Photographer's Odyssey Through The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) - 8, Great Newport Street
Li Zhensheng was a photographer paid by the Communist Party-owned provincial newspaper Heilongjiang Daily. He became an enthusiastic supporter of the Cultural Revolution, setting up his own group of rebels on his newspaper 'the team of young fighters'. His official recognition from Beijing was an armband inscribed 'Red-Colour News Soldier'. His photographs include the humiliation and denunciation of a colleague from his own office by the regime.
Despite being an acolyte of Mao Zedong - curator Robert Pledge notes that 'by the end of 1966, Mao had become to most Chinese a living god' - Li Zhensheng was denounced in 1968 and sent for re-education. He was rehabilitated and promoted to head of photography on his paper in 1972. He secretly stored his photographs, 130 of which form this exhibition. The regime that paid him, denounced him, and paid him again - has disappeared. His hidden photographs form its unique record.
The Cultural Revolution skilfully harnessed (among other groups) students' natural dislike of their academic superiors, distracting them from rebelling against the government. At the same time, French students were rioting in the streets of Paris against the state.
By one of fate's ironies, the Cultural Revolution had a quirky popularity with the kind of people who now flock to The Photographers' Gallery and Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) - dried-fruit-for-breakfast Guardian readers (yes, people like us), with half an eye on international socialism, the other on the value of their flats in Islington and Crouch End.
A leading London arthouse (possibly the ICA or NFT) ran a film season in the 1970s of documentaries shot in Chinese factories. One of these showed welders recalling with joy their meeting with Chairman Mao, and dancing their recollection on the factory floor to a circle of enthralled colleagues. The films won enthusiastic approval from London middle-class intellectuals - exactly the people whom the Cultural Revolution was purging.
Completing the circle, Li Zhensheng's photographs show the dances of factory workers recalling their delight at meeting the Great Helmsman. The same kind of London intellectuals who greeted the films with delight, in the same kind of gallery, now have the opportunity to tut-tut to the stills.
Whether Li Zhensheng is considered propagandist or honest reporter, what is not in doubt is the technical and artistic brilliance of his photography. Like German Chancellor Adolf Hitler's favourite photographer, the astonishing Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003), Li Zhensheng's composition astounds.
His preferred sizing is square. It's a difficult shape to compose, the curator notes, and Li Zhensheng's balance within the frame is a constant visual delight. As well as being artistically inspired, his work is technically exciting, with a thrilling mastery of motion, focus and depth of field.
The exhibition springs from the Summer Of The Red Guards, May 1966. It's a grass-roots students' movement, 'exposing the reactionary stand of those so-called "academic authorities"'.
A couple of soldiers dance to a crowd 'Red Guards From The Harbin Military Engineering Institute Perform The "It Is Right To Rebel" Song And Dance To Promote Mao's 'Supreme Instruction', 1966. Many pictures depict ritual criticism and degradation of individuals.
Local governor Li Fanwu and his wife Li Xia are denounced for 'hiding precious goods' - the photograph pathetically shows 3 inferior watches, a couple of brooches, three handbags. The couple are betrayed by their neice. Other photographs record executions.
It's 1968, the Red Guards are disbanded by the Chairman. A new mass-movement in the countryside begins, the 7 May Cadre School Programme. A gorgeously shot and composed photograph shows a couple of air-force pilots in the open cockpit of their aircraft reading Chairman Mao Zedong's quotes (the Little Red Book) before taking off. (Lalin Air Force Base, Wuchang County, 1969).
The exhibition's closing section 'Die Fighting, The End Of The Myth' records the Chairman's final years, 1972-76.
After Mao Zedong's death, his chosen successor had Mao Zedong's unpopular widow Jiang Qing - 'The White-Boned Demon' - arrested. 3 years later, advocate of moderation and modernisation Deng Xiaoping took control of China.
Some may considere the 'embedded' photographer tarnished - tainted by the implicit slant of a regime that provides access to subject-matter and opportunity. The invasion of Iraq has triggered this debate, but it's an old one. Whether Li Zhensheng is considered a hero (for concealing, keeping, and making available his work), or compromised (for his enthusiastic co-operation with the regime), is a question this exhibition provokes.
Credits: Red-Colour News Soldier: Photographer - Li Zhensheng. Curator - Robert Pledge, Director of Contact Press Images (New York/Paris). Co-produced and presented by Patrimoine Photographique-Ministry of Culture, France. Co-Curator - Gabriel Bauret. Mao's Photographers: Photographers - Hou Bo, Xu Xiaobing. Curators - Claude Hudelot, Margo Renisio. Co-produced and presented by The Rencontres d’Arles, International Festival of Photography. Both Exhibitions: Press Officer - Sioban Ketelaar. Programme Organiser - Camilla Jackson.
END
John Park
reviewed Friday 7 May 04 / Photographers' Gallery
(c) Fringe Report 2004
reviews@fringereport.com
FRINGE REPORT
www.fringereport.com
Photographic Exhibitions -
Li Zhensheng - Red-Colour News Soldier
Hou Bo, Xu Xiaobing - Mao's Photographers
Verdict: Understanding total control
Two exhibitions at The Photographers’ Gallery concern Mao Zedong (writes Cecilia Holmes). Li Zhensheng - Red-Colour News Soldier pictures the mass rallies and public denunciations that ravaged the country during Mao's reign. Hou Bo, Xu Xiaobing - Mao's Photographers shows Mao himself with friends and family
Mao Zedong ruled officially from 1949-76. His political initiatives included the Great Leap Forward, and Cultural Revolution – both disastrous in economic and human terms. Current accounts estimate that Mao Zedong’s leadership of China resulted in the deaths of some 30 million of his compatriots (reference 1). It’s difficult, outside of the time and society, to understand the cult of the man – endowed by many, as the exhibition curator notes, with an almost god-like status.
While the West moved towards its interpretation of democracy, China had evolved a unique political, economic, and cultural path. Part of that cultural belief supported strong leadership. It seemed as if, to quote one commentator, ‘It was a far greater crime in Chinese eyes for a dynasty to show weakness than to exercise tyranny' (reference 2) – and tyranny characterised Mao’s exercise of power.
There was, too, a tradition of obedience and loyalty towards the ruler – which the cult of Mao’s personality readily exploited. The Cultural Revolution was supposed – officially – to see the ending of all human exploitation and misery. It was the time when - as the photographs in these two exhibitions show more clearly than words - pupil turned against teacher, and son against father - allowing chaos to be presented as a more favourable option than order.
Mao Zedong - as these exhibitions attest - was a master of control. His thoughts, compressed into The Little Red Book, were followed and read religiously (and effectively compulsorily) by the whole nation. His image was distributed on a mass scale. Pictures of the enormous rallies encouraged by the regime show the sheer volume of photographs of the leader carried by the participants. The exhibitions include some of the key images used in this propaganda.
Hou Bo, Xu Xiaobing - Mao's Photographers. The prints of Mao with his family and friends are artfully staged, but with careful examination, fragments of his nature seem tantalisingly to leech out – or not. With hindsight, the viewer might search Mao’s face for the hint of evil, traces of cruelty. It’s like scanning the face of a serial killer in the newspaper, as if deeds were written onto a facial expression. Mao’s pudgy face might carry a look of callousness around the tightly-drawn lips. Perhaps to cultivate the dreamy 1000-mile stare of philosophers, his eyes never look into the camera.
An example hangs in the gallery’s cafe area. Chairman Mao stands surrounded by adoring children on the steps of their school (Mao Zedong On The Steps Of Shaoshan School With Pupils, 26 June 1959). Hemmed in by the energy and exuberance of youth, Mao looks to a point out of shot. The joyless gaze, the side views of his face, the averted eyes: looked at now, there’s a decided shiftiness to the Great Helmsman.
The adjoining exhibition Li Zhensheng - Red-Colour News Soldier includes many images of mass rallies and public denunciations – during which workers deemed counter- revolutionary were forced to ‘accept criticism’. The photographs catch a feral undertone – the feeling of a herd, with fear and repression as the stampeding force. There’s a palpable tension in the faces of the crowd members, as they clap at and deride the victims of their public humiliation.
Victims undergoing ‘criticism’ are stripped of self-esteem, made to stand on chairs with placards around their necks. The human spirit might feel deadened by these farcical figures in dunce caps, the photographs made chilling by the knowledge that the people depicted are victims of a destructive, well-organised madness. And that they aren’t criminals – it’s easy to imagine the victim in the dunce’s cap as somebody’s dad, who until that moment was carrying out a good day’s work.
A baby-faced lad rips the hair out of a governor’s head. (Accused Of Bearing A Resemblance To Mao, Heilongjiang Province Governor Li Fanwu's Hair Is Brutally Shaved And Torn By Zealous Young Red Guards In Red Square, Harbin, 12 September 1966). Bullied at school? Payback time? Let’s get teacher? On the evidence of these photographs, the Cultural Revolution skilfully channelled anarchy in a way that dehumanised its – enthusiastic – participants. The negative elements of total control when applied to personal relationships are increasingly well-understood. Applying that understanding on a mass scale to Mao’s leadership, the secrets of his success become clear.
END
(c) Cecilia Holmes 2004
reviewed Friday 7 May 04 / Photographers' Gallery
References: Source: The People's Republic Of China Since 1949. Author – Michael Lynch. Publisher - Hodder and Stoughton. First Published - 1998. ISBN - 0 340 68853 x. British Library Shelfmark YC.1999.a.5792. Relevant passages and chapter titles:
(1) ‘Taken together, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution resulted in the deaths of over 30 million people. The scale was so staggering in that for a long time neither Chinese nor Western scholars could bring themselves to accept it. What made the horror so difficult to contemplate, let alone understand, was that it had been perpetrated in the name of a philosophy that claimed to have found the scientific means to end human exploitation and misery.’ p 56 - The Legacy Of Mao's Cultural Revolution. (C) Michael Lynch 1998. back to review
(2) ‘It was a far greater crime in Chinese eyes for a dynasty to show weakness than to exercise tyranny.’ p 143 - Western Perceptions Of The PRC. (C) Michael Lynch 1998. back to review
Reference quotes (C) Michael Lynch 1998
reviews@fringereport.com
(c) Fringe Report 2004
Back to Start
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
