A panoramic portrait of 20th century China as seen by Magnum photographers
![A group of Chinese watching ‘the Long Nose’, a term which refers to all westerners, including the photographer Patrick Zachmann](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hVLyomhRtJmXpw4hVTmWfc-415-80.jpg)
Photobook and social history sit page-by-page in Thames & Hudson’s new tome, Magnum China. Through the lens of 40 photographers represented by the global photography agency, China’s modern history unfurls chronologically, revealing its people, places and political pivots in edifying detail.
First covered by Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson in the 1930s and 1940s, China has long-held the fascination of Magnum and its photographers. No less than 365 photographs made the cut for this weighty book, from Werner Bischof’s distressing portraits of refugees in 1950s Hong Kong to Patrick Zachmann’s collages of contemporary urban development, via Chien-Chi Chang’s graphic snapshots of mental patients in Taiwan in the 1990s (that look like they could have been shot in the 1930s).
Adding context to the visual signposts that direct us through the vast country and time frame, commentator and writer Jonathan Fenby maps the socio-political landscape with exactitude and colour. ‘China’s 20th century began with the fall of the imperial system that had ruled the populous nation on earth for more than two millenia,’ he writes in the introduction. ‘It ended with an economic explosion that changed the world. Between the two came turbulence on an enormous scale as autocracies of right and left succeeded one another among civil violence that, at times, threatened to tear the country apart and took the lives of millions of civilians as well as combatants.’
Schoolgirls prepare for the reception of French president Georges Pompidou. In the background, a portrait of Mao and slogans ‘Long live the People’s Republic of China. Long live the Union of the people of the world’. Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, 1973. © Bruno Barbey / Magnum Photos
Caught between the harrowing and the political, of particular visual majesty is a photograph by René Burri – Dead Lotus flowers on the Kunming Lake at the former Summer Palace, Beijing, 1964 – a moment of eerie calm, bounded by lively vignettes of protest, celebration, armies, and factory employees at work. The dead stems, twisted into geometries like silhouetted Calder sculptures, are a poignant metaphor for the millions of lives lost in this particularly volatile period.
Alongside these lesser known angles, you can’t help but feel eviscerated when confronted with Stuart Franklin’s familiar 1989 photograph of the Tank Man in Tiananmen Square. Alongside its ubiquity as an image of protest, its inclusion serves to highlight the vast impact Magnum photographers like Franklin have had on delivering insight on China’s development to the rest of the world. This book salutes their photojournalistic achievement, as well as providing a valuable record of the country’s endlessly fascinating, often heartbreaking, 20th-century story.
‘The Tank Man’ stopping the column of T59 tanks. Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, 4 June 1989. © Stuart Franklin / Magnum Photos
Dead lotus flowers on the Kunming Lake. Former Summer Palace, Beijing, China, 1964. © Rene Burri / Magnum Photos
Beijing, China, 2017. © Jim Goldberg / Magnum Photos
Happy Valley Racecourse, Hong Kong, 2013. © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos
Shenzhen, China, 2017. © Christopher Anderson / Magnum Photos
Ancient and modern China come together in this new industrial town, Guangdong, Shenzhen, China, 1992. © Ian Berry / Magnum Photos
Magnum China is edited by Colin Pantall and Zheng Ziyu, with additional texts by Jonathan Fenby
INFORMATION
Magnum China, £48, published by Thames & Hudson. For more information, visit the Magnum Photos website
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Elly Parsons is the Digital Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees Wallpaper.com and its social platforms. She has been with the brand since 2015 in various roles, spending time as digital writer – specialising in art, technology and contemporary culture – and as deputy digital editor. She was shortlisted for a PPA Award in 2017, has written extensively for many publications, and has contributed to three books. She is a guest lecturer in digital journalism at Goldsmiths University, London, where she also holds a masters degree in creative writing. Now, her main areas of expertise include content strategy, audience engagement, and social media.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
How the west won: Ivan McClellan is amplifying the intrepid beauty of Black cowboy culture
In his new book, 'Eight Seconds: Black Cowboy Culture', Ivan McClellan draws us into the world of Black rodeo. Wallpaper* meets the photographer ahead of his Juneteenth Rodeo
By Tracy Kawalik Published
-
‘Package Holiday 1968-1985’: a very British love affair in pictures
‘Package Holiday’ recalls tans, table tennis and Technicolor in Trevor Clark’s wistful snaps of sun-seeking Brits
By Caragh McKay Published
-
‘Art Exposed’: Julian Spalding on everything that’s wrong with the art world
In ‘Art Exposed’, Julian Spalding draws on his 40 years in the art world – as a museum director, curator, and critic – for his series of essays
By Alfred Tong Published
-
Marisol Mendez's ‘Madre’ unpicks the woven threads of Bolivian womanhood
From ancestry to protest, how Marisol Mendez’s 'Madre' is rewriting the narrative of Bolivian womanhood
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Cui Jie revisits past utopian architectures in her retro-futuristic cityscapes
Cui Jie responds to the ‘Cosmos Cinema’ theme of the Shanghai Biennale 2023
By Finn Blythe Published
-
New Magnum Square Print Sale: what to buy, from Roger Deakins to Alfredo Jaar
The new Magnum Square Print Sale (17–23 April 2023) looks beyond the agency’s roster for the first time, inviting artists, filmmakers, and fellow photographers to join alongside Magnum Photographers
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
Photo book explores the messy, magical mundanity of new motherhood
‘Sorry I Gave Birth I Disappeared But Now I’m Back’ by photographer Andi Galdi Vinko explores new motherhood in all its messy, beautiful reality
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Best contemporary art books: a guide for 2024
From maverick memoirs to topical tomes, turn over a new leaf with the Wallpaper* arts desk’s pick of new releases and all-time favourite art books
By Hannah Silver Last updated