Decisive Moments: Liu Heung Shing's Lens, Era, and People

Revisiting "The Turbulent Era," capturing the expressions of the times. Over two hundred treasured works form a 46-year historical panorama, reflecting societal changes through everyday life, taking readers back to the stories of that tumultuous period from the 1970s to the 1990s.

About the Author

Liu Heung Shing

A seasoned news media expert and renowned photojournalist. He was the first chief photographer for Time magazine and chief photographer for the Associated Press stationed in Beijing since 1978. From 1997 to 2006, he served as Time Warner's resident representative in China and News Corporation's Executive Vice President for China. In 2008, he was an advisor to the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee. In 2015, he founded the Shanghai Centre of Photography. He captures eras with his lens and freezes the world with his images, having won a series of awards, including the "Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography." Newsweek described him as "China's Henri Cartier-Bresson."

Liu Heung Shing has published numerous photography books, including "China, Portrait of a Nation," "1911: A Centennial History of Images from the Opium Wars to the Warlord Era," "Shanghai: Portrait of a Global City," and "China Dream."

Liu Heung Shing was born in Hong Kong after the establishment of the People's Republic, spent his childhood in Fuzhou, and then returned to Hong Kong until he was 16, after which he went to the United States for his education. His life experiences not only span China and the United States, but more importantly, he has first-hand experience with the ideologies of both countries. This special experience has given his photographic works a distinctive quality. When photographing China, he no longer adopts an "outsider's" perspective, but rather immerses himself in the subjects, neither exoticizing nor beautifying them. His visual narratives are natural and serene. From this perspective, he captures brilliant moments in daily life that are often unnoticed yet extremely precious — preserving the precious charm of humanity, while also offering ample details for interpretation. While enjoying the charm of both news and documentary, one can also glimpse the photographer's excellent sense of humor and wit, helping the world understand a more authentic China, and helping readers understand a more authentic world.