Guangzhou based Southern Metropolis Daily published an article on March 19, 2008, about veteran Chinese photojournalists who confessed to setting up photos for state-run press.
The article is translated and published on the EastSouthWestNorth blog:
Li Zhencheng graduated in 1963 from the Department of Photography of the Changchun Academy of Cinematography and later became a photojournalist at
. In the 1980’s, he went to teach at the Department of Journalism at the China People’s Police University. As a professional photojournalist, he had taken and preserved a large number of Cultural Revolution-era photos with the unique characteristics of those times. On March 7, Li posted a photograph titled:
on his personal blog. He stated in very clear terms that this photograph had been directed and modified 35 years ago. “From the viewpoint of composition and lighting, this photo is quite perfect. In reality, there are many places in which modifications and forgery occurred. Back in those days, I was all for reasonably organization and modification. I advocated direction and alteration without giving any hints.” Li challenged his blog visitors to detect the flaws.
Li Zhengcheng’s “Red Color News Solider,” an exhibition of his Cultural Revolution-era photos (also published as a book by Phaidon), made waves in China photographic and historical circles when it came out in 2003.
