Inspiring Older Readers

posted on 31 May 2016

Three Banners of China by Marc Riboud

French photographer, Marc Riboud, is approaching 93 years of age and he can look back on a photographic career that has seen him producing groundbreaking images of communities that had been closed to Western audiences. In particular he opened up images of China – a society which was, at that time, still an exotic and rather forbidding mystery.

Riboud’s photographs of Mao’s China in Three Banners of China are especially interesting because they capture that country just one year before the formal launch of The Cultural Revolution in 1966. Over the next ten years the art and religions of the imperialist past were purged from public life and with that came the deaths of thousands of people suspected of being counter-revolutionary.

Riboud’s blend of colour and black and white photographs show some of the contradictions of Chinese society in this period. Everywhere there are echoes of the past; tradition dominates everyday life and yet there are also clear signs of the regimentation yet to come with children being drilled in the arts of war and discipline.

I find it fascinating that ordinary family life is watched over by Mao who can be found in so many homes hanging in pride of place on living room or dining room walls – taking precedence over other family portraits. Love of Mao as a leader of his people was a core element of the indoctrination that happened at school as well as at home and so China has always put great emphasis on the importance of the rising generation and Riboud has really captured the cult of childhood.

Although China may have been closed to Western tourism for so many years, Riboud continued to visit on a regular basis and would continue to record the changing life there. However, in my view he never surpassed the work he did on Three Banners of China and his essay at the front has some excellent insights into the making of the project.

Copies of the collection can be found on the second hand market for anything from £10 - £30 depending on condition. It’s a beautiful book and so it’s worth every penny.

 

Terry Potter

May 2016