A life in pictures

PLA troops enter Beiping in 1949 by Gao Fan. Photos provided to China Daily

The first joint exhibition of a legendary photographer couple is running at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. On show are more than 100 shots showcasing their careers. Lin Qi reports.

Gao Fan (1922-2004) and 90-year-old Niu Weiyu are both acclaimed photographers and a couple. Gao captured many historic moments at the birth of New China, featuring combat scenes and first-generation leaders of the Communist Party of China, such as late Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. Niu was one of the few female photographers in the 1950s and captured important figures among the literati and art circles.

The Photographic Life, the first joint exhibition of their work, is running at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. On show are more than 100 photographs that showcase their careers from the late 1930s to the 1970s.

Niu held a solo show at the venue in 1988. Gao did so 11 years later.

Meanwhile, Niu donated the displayed works and another 140 photos to the museum at the event's opening ceremony on Friday.

Speaking about their work, Wu Weishan, director of the museum, says: "They photographed to enrich the visual records of China during wartime and in the early days of New China. They helped to build the pictorial and aesthetic base of socialist realism, and they each demonstrate an individual expression when they focus on the social life of New China.

"Gao's works have a grand, narrative perspective and therefore are filled with a poetic and sublime feeling. Niu's works show a touch of tenderness, tolerance and the sensibility of a woman."