Meet Zeng Yi

Like a door that swings rapidly open and shut, the world has caught infrequent and fleeting glimpses of the daily lives of the Chinese people. Fortunately, renowned photographer Zeng Yi has been documenting village life, among other subjects, in the world’s most populous nation, for decades. Now more than 50 of those images will be on display in The People’s China: Village Life by Master Photographer Zeng Yi at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum from Thursday, October 1, 2015 until January 27, 2016.READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Our Classroom, 1982, by Zeng Yi

These images provide context for the still evolving country envisioned by Mao’s word in 1949, and they also serve as emblems of China’s rural past as it converges with contemporary urban life in the world’s second largest economy.

While Zeng’s primary motivation is to record the lives of ordinary people, he is equally fascinated by the ability of photography to change history. “For me, the task of a photographer is to capture events on film and record things that happen in the present time, as these events may end up leaving an indelible mark on history. For this reason, every photographer shoulders a certain amount of responsibility. This responsibility is something that I personally take very seriously,” Zeng said before an audience while exhibiting his work in Brussels.

Election Meeting at Village, 2007

“I am most interested in the lives of the masses — of the ordinary people . . . These photographs show what the daily life of people was like back then. They are also testimony of the period of time when China was just beginning to open up to the outside world, which is now regarded as a significant point in history. These pictures are a souvenir of this period of time… of this part of history,” Zeng is quoted as saying in GB Times, a global network that explores China from an international perspective.

Zeng Yi was born in 1949 in the Jinan in Eastern China and now plays a leading role in the photographic community, as an artist, educator and advocate for the medium. His list of titles and achievements includes that of curator, professor and research supervisor at Shandong College of Art and Design, member of the curatorial committee of the China Photographers Association and President of the Eastern International Photographic Art Association.

Playing the So-na, 1987

For the past twenty years, he has successfully planned and organized the National Youth Photography Festival in the International Year of Peace, Chinese Confucius Culture Photography Exhibition, First National Top Ten Young Photo-graphers Award and many other festivals and events. In 2013, he was selected by the Chinese Minister of Culture as planning director of the Beijing International Photography Week. He is will also take the lead role in conducting Photo Beijing later this year.

The United States, Germany, Italy, France, South Korea, Taiwan and Cyprus are among the many countries that have exhibited his work. Zeng has also been instrumental in bringing legendary international photographers to China through his writings and curatorial efforts.

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