5A1 Art Space(Shenzhen)・
Fujian Huaguang Photography Art Museum
Jointly organized
Photography Exhibition of a Chinese Man
Collector
Tong Bingxue
Curator
Cui Bo
Chun Wai
Duration
2025.03.30-04.17
Opening
2025.3.30 16:00pm
Venue
5A1, 5th Floor, Building AB, Tianji Building, Tian'an Digital City, Chegongmiao, Futian District, Shenzhen
A personal diary of an ordinary Chinese man from Fujian, spanning 62 years in one step. Plain but powerful.
From 1896-1901, Ye Jinglv followed his uncle Luo Fenglu, who was the imperial envoy of the Qing Dynasty to Britain, Italy and Belgium, and worked in the Qing Dynasty's embassy in London for five years. He then returned to Fuzhou to help Luo Fenglu's family run a pawnshop and tea shop. He retired and lived at home in 1937.
He died of illness in Fuzhou in 1968. The descendants of the Ye family lost this photo album when they moved, and it was later collected by Tong Bingxue. After a year of research and exploration, Ye Jinglv's life experience was restored and officially disclosed and disseminated.
Ye Jinglv, a native of Fujian, worked for Luo Fenglu, the Chinese ambassador to the UK, in London from 1896 to 1901. After returning to China, he lived in Fuzhou for a long time. From 1907 to 1968, Ye Jinglu went to the photo studio every year for 62 consecutive years to keep a portrait of himself. The wars and separations did not interrupt his persistence. Under each photo of Mr. Ye Jinglv, there is a handwritten note of the shooting time, age and family at that time, national events, etc. Such a dignified and ritualistic selfie, plus the historically meaningful text behind the photo, constitutes a personal image autobiography in a specific historical period.
Among the photos of Ye Jinglv's life, more than 30 years were taken in alternating standing and sitting positions. In more than 60 photos, Ye Jinglv's eyes are always calm and composed. The ups and downs of the times and business, the separation and reunion of the family, it seems that it is impossible to read clearly from his expression. Mr. Ye's life is actually always connected with the surroundings. Until he was in his eighties, he still went out every day and touched the fresh and vivid changes around him every day; when he was idle at home, reading books, newspapers, and listening to the radio were indispensable channels to understand the world. In his early years of wandering overseas life, busy business management in middle age, and retired retirement in his later years, Mr. Ye's mentality has always kept pace with the great times. Although he did not become rich and powerful, and experienced great ups and downs, he was very clear about the courage, cowardice, strength, weakness, and the advance and retreat of the world. It is this inner fullness and strength, the independence and firmness of personality, that have created the usual tranquility and determination on the surface.
This set of portraits is also hailed as a miracle in the history of human photography and world civilization. Many scholars in the fields of anthropology, imaging, and art history have written commentary articles from their own perspectives. Mr. Tong Bingxue, a collector of historical images, said: "Forty years after Mr. Ye passed away, I met him by chance. At the age of forty, I also re-recognized myself and life."
