EastSouthWestNorth: Confessions of Veteran Photojournalists

Veteran Journalists Confess To Directing Photos.  March 19, 2008.

Li Zhencheng graduated in 1963 from the Department of Photography of the Changchun Academy of Cinematography and later became a photojournalist at Heilongjiang Daily News.  In the 1980’s, he went to teach at the Department of Journalism at the China People’s Police University.  As a professional photojournalist, he had taken and preserved a large number of Cultural Revolution-era photos with the unique characteristics of those times. 

On March 7, Li posted a photograph titled: Yet Another High Quality Well on his personal blog.  He stated in very clear terms that this photograph had been directed and modified 35 years ago.  “From the viewpoint of composition and lighting, this photo is quite perfect.  In reality, there are many places in which modifications and forgery occurred.  Back in those days, I was all for reasonably organization and modification.  I advocated direction and alteration without giving any hints.”  Li challenged his blog visitors to detect the flaws.

Check it out here.