“The Communist Party is like the sun. Wherever it shines, it is bright.” A look at political messaging during China’s Cultural Revolution. – The Washington Post

These are the lyrics of “The East is Red,” a song praising Mao Zedong that became China’s unofficial national anthem during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). These are also the words that inspired the title of photographer Sheila Zhao’s latest project “The East was Red,” which examines the power and prevalence of political messaging in photography from that time.