A newphotobook (ISBN-13: 9780670080908) published by Penguin entitled "Shanghai : A History in Photographs, 1842-Today" will hit the shelves tomorrow. Produced by Pulitzer prize winning photographer, Liu Heung Shing, and Karen Smith, an internationally renowned expert on Chinese contemporary art, it charts in images the history of the city from the end of the first Opium War to the present day. Liu was the first ethnic Chinese photographer to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography accolade.
Apart from works by H.S., the book containsimages from the impressive Jardine Matheson Archive, Shanghai Municipal Archives, Shanghai Library, Shanghai Art Museum, photographic giants such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, private collections and newly commissioned works from the latest photographers who have taken on the challenge of photographing the city.
"There were two criteria for photos to be selected, it had to be a good photo with historical significance and it had to be appropriate in telling the story of Shanghai," Liu said. He added that many of the old photos needed to be restored, a task that involved great skill and patience. All of the photographs also had to be verified to ensure their authenticity and accuracy.
The early sections of the book relating to when Shanghai was divided into foreign controlled quarters was an era in which Chinese did not have cameras, so all the pictures were taken by Westerners.
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