Today, I went to a talk given by our photographer friend, Gang Feng Wang, in his Shanghai home. He is well known around the world for his work, dearly loved by all of the expats in Shanghai, and took our family pictures in August. He is at every expat event, along with his wife, Coin, who is well known for her beautiful paintings of Chinese women. We were also honored to have his mother and father in attendance.
Gang Feng (pronounced GanFen) spoke to us about growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution. He was born in 1956, and therefore was at an age to remember this time period quite well (1966-1976). He was born into a well-educated family. His father was the captain of a ship, and his mother was a school teacher.
During his life he has lived in and around Shanghai, as well as in Canada. He began his adult working life at a state-run farm on an island just off the coast of Shanghai. After six years of this, he moved back, and worked in a factory repairing the machinery used to make fishing nets.
His interest in photography began during his farm experiences, and once back in the city, his sister spent her life savings to buy him a used camera. His career as a photographer was the result of years of self-study and discipline, as his childhood and early adult life was extremely difficult due to the time period. He discussed the changes in China over the years, and how that has shaped his life. The story, and all it entailed, is something that is hard for us, as Americans, to imagine.
His father stood up to speak, after Gang Feng was done. He said his English was not very good (humbleness is very important in China), although it was much better than he admitted. He told us that his English skills were better in music, so he would like to sing us a song instead. In English. He sang two. While the talk was going on, Gang Feng's mother was downstairs making us homemade dumplings.
Once again, the people of China endear me.
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