Photography works on show at the exhibition Photos: Beaugeste Photo Gallery

The first time that 59-year-old French photographer Grégoire De Gaulle became aware of China was from his father's 8mm film machine in 1964. The then 9-year-old De Gaulle was spellbound by images of the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven.

"That year, my father organized the first French industrial exhibition in Beijing and he recorded that journey using his 8mm film," De Gaulle told the Global Times.

Since that year, De Gaulle began to familiarize himself with Chinese culture, occasionally visiting a small Chinese restaurant in the 10th arrondissement of Paris.

"Then, soon afterward, the news of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) in China reached France, and we would always hear Mao et Moa (a song by Italian-French singer Nino Ferrer) on the radio," De Gaulle said.

Photography works on show at the exhibition Photos: Beaugeste Photo Gallery

"To be honest, as a frivolous juvenile, at that time I really didn't realize how serious that revolution was," he added.

In August 1978, following a yearlong stint of military service in Pakistan, De Gaulle visited the Chinese mainland for the first time, and took along a camera to record his experiences.

The journey lasted almost three weeks, and included Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanjing, Suzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou.

Almost 40 photos from this trip make up De Gaulle's solo exhibition Beijing Summer 1978, which is at Beaugeste Photo Gallery in Tianzifang until June 4.

Jean Loh, the curator of the exhibition, told the Global Times that the photographer's great uncle,  former French President Charles De Gaulle, referred to China as "a country older than history," although he himself never visited.

Photography works on show at the exhibition Photos: Beaugeste Photo Gallery

"I did meet my great uncle several times," De Gaulle said. "Although he never mentioned China to me, I know China was always a country he wanted very much to visit."

The China of 1978 had barely emerged from the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution and was standing at the threshold of major reforms that would propel the whole country into the future.

However, although politics continued to rage in the hot summer of that year, De Gaulle was most interested in focusing on the daily lives of ordinary Chinese people.

De Gaulle told the Global Times that he saw few revolutionary slogans in Beijing and Shanghai, although other cities like Chongqing still had many such remnants of the turmoil.

Photography works on show at the exhibition Photos: Beaugeste Photo Gallery

"At that time, unlike today, most people who visited those tourist spots, like the Summer Palace and the Great Wall, were not taking photos, but painting and sketching, which we really seldom see today," De Gaulle said.

In Jean Loh's opinion, De Gaulle's lens caught many little touching moments of daily life in China in the 1970s during that relatively short visit.

"Like school boys and girls doing their homework on the sidewalks of lanes and alleys in Shanghai," Loh said.

"One girl even carried a wooden toy gun on her arm as she was doing homework," Loh added.

Date: Until June 4, 10 am to 6 pm 



Venue: Beaugeste Photo Gallery 



比极影像



Address: Room 519, Bldg 5, Lane 210 Taikang Road

泰康路210弄5号楼519室



Admission: Free



Call 6466-9012 for details