family and his own cultural identity in relation to
the socialist meaning of family. He often used his-
torical photographs as the material for creating
new works. InThem, 1999, he reassembled a num-
ber of women wearing drab Maoist garb who had
been captured in an official black-and-white group
portrait from 1973 to photograph them in exactly
the same configuration, but in color wearing Wes-
tern-style dresses.
The use of historical motifs also underlies the
work of ZHUANG Hui, who orchestrates large
group portraits of schools, factories, and other
institutions in the style of official photography
of earlier eras. WANG Qingsong mines the entire
span of Chinese history in ambitious, panoramic
works that assembled dozens of models in elabo-
rate tableaux, often with the intent of pointing
out or satirizing modernization; in the work
Look Up, Look Up, 2000, a group of people wear-
ing unflattering clothes and hairdos in the latest
styles stand gazing up at an oversized bottle of
Coca-Cola.
HONG Lei (1960–) is known for his photo-
graphic appropriation of Chinese landscape paint-
ings. He found the exact scene that a Chinese
painter depicted and took a photo based on the
exact aesthetic and visual effect that the painting
conveys. ZHAO Bandi (1966–) uses digital tech-
niques to create photos in which his own images,
an artificial panda, and texts that are reminiscent
of propaganda posters and advertisements, have
been incorporated.
Photography in China only recently became con-
nected to international trends. And it was only at
the end of the century that photography become a
formal major in art colleges. At the end of the
century as well, international photography exhibi-
tions began to be held in China, bringing promi-
nent international artists, curators, and critics who
displayed their work and lectured there. The Court-
Yard Gallery and Red Gate Gallery in Beijing,
established by Westerners, have been important
private institutions for the promotion of Chinese
contemporary photography and art. Local artists
using photography and video, which had become
extremely popular at the end of the century, had
increasing opportunities to show their works
abroad, especially in Europe, and have become
concerned with China’s global issues. Seminal tra-
veling exhibitions organized by the Kunstmuseum,
Wolfsburg, Germany, and the International Center
of Photography, New York circulated at the turn
of the century.
Important internationally focused Chinese con-
temporary photographers include WENG Fen
(1961–). Weng Fen’s series of large-scale color
works entitledWall Straddle, 2001, depicts young
girls in school uniforms sitting across crumbling,
trash-strewn walls and looking in the distance at
modern skylines. His interpretation of China’s
urban development relies on symbolism—as if in
these photos the girls foretell the future of globa-
lized China. CHEN Lingyang is an emerging
female photographer whose works are concerned
with the female body and female identity related to
the image of city. Twelve Moon Flowers, 1999–
2000, depicts female genitals in a poetic fashion,
as the viewer sees their relation to twelve flowers.
XIANG Liqing (1973–) montages hundreds of
images of high-rise buildings to create colorful,
large-scale tableaux that comment on the anonym-
ity of modern urban society. YANG Zhenzhong
(1968–) satirizes contemporary Chinese family life
and family policy with his portraits of squawking
roosters, hens, and chicks that stand in for hus-
bands and wives, fathers, mothers, and children in
hisFamily Fortunes, Lucky Familyseries of the
mid-1990s. Important expatriate Chinese photo-
graphers include ZHANG Huan (1965–), known
primarily for performances that test the limits of
his bodily endurance; he also directs performances
documented with large-scale color photographs,
such as a shot of Chinese men half-immersed in a
body of water, titledTo Raise the Water Level in a
Fishpondof 1997.Photography in Taiwan
Photography appears in Taiwan arguably as early as
1871, when the Scottish photographer John Thom-
son (1837–1921) visited what was then called the
island of Formosa, during his travels in China from
1868–1872. Thomson is known for his ambitious
photo album of portrait photography on Chinese
workers and peasants, published in England in
1893/4 asIllustrations of China and Its People.He
appears to be the first photographer to do landscape
photography and portraits of aboriginals in Taiwan.
Other photographers during this period of time
were Christian priests who lived and worked in
Taiwan. They often took portrait photographs of
native inhabitants.Document and Realist Photography from 1895
to 1948 during Taiwan’s Colonial Period under
Japanese Occupation
Photography in Taiwan during this period of time
was heavily influenced by the Japanese. Documen-CHINA AND TAIWAN, PHOTOGRAPHY IN