Liu Xucang

Liu Xucang was a Chinese photographer who was born in 1913 in Nanxun, Huzhou, Zhejiang. He came from an affluent provincial family and learned German and English in his early years. He developed an interest in photography from his teens and picked up darkroom techniques from observing a nearby photography studio. He moved to Shanghai with his family and became acquainted with the famous photographer Lang Jingshan. He did not study photography formally, but learned from books, magazines, and exhibitions. He collaborated with a friend to found the Art Life magazine in 1932, with himself as editor, to promote photographic art. He also studied with Zhang Chongren to learn drawing, watercolor, and oil painting. After 1945, he worked in commercial photography and the film industry. In 1956, he was elected executive director of the Photographic Society of China. He was twice elected secretary of the Chinese Photographers Association. He pioneered in the use of color film, photography of everyday objects, and nudes. He was one of the earliest practitioners of documentary photography in China and captured pivotal moments in Chinese history, including the early days of the Chinese Communist Party. His work was exhibited in Europe and North America starting from the 1930s. He had a hidden archive of photos that he kept from the public eye. He died in 1966, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, presumably as a result of political harassment. He is regarded as one of the most influential and innovative photographers in Chinese history.