Private Archive of the 1970s

Item set

Type
Private collection See all item sets with this value
Archive See all item sets with this value
Title
Private Archive of the 1970s
Description
Catherine and Olivier de B. were brother and sister and two amateurs photographers who stayed three weeks in China between July and August 1971. They compiled an archive of over a hundred still images as well as moving images.
content
The archive encompasses:

- 4 Kraft envelopes containing:
• Roll films (3 roll films that remain rolled, while the rest is segmented for more uniform flat storage),
• 3 colour slides reproductions,
• 6 cartridges of super 8 film, including one empty.

- 1 newspaper “La Croix du Midi” published on 10 October 1971

- Photocopies of newspaper articles published in “La Croix du Midi” on 17 and 24 October 1971

- 3 embroidered items representing landscapes

- 5 postcard sleeves (most empty, except one that contains 5 postcards including 3 identical)

- Several fans decorated with revolutionary themes

- 3 ink drawings on paper

- 1 Mao’s Little Red Book (a foreign edition published in 1967, texts written in French)

- 2 cameras user manuals

- 1 alarm clock illustrated with revolutionary iconography. The glass is broken but the mechanism still works.


Catherine and Olivier de B. used the following equipment:
- A camera Canon Canonet F-1, QL17/19,
- A Kodachrome II Movie Film Type A in Super 8 movie cartridge.
Based on an interview of the legal owner conducted in July 2018, it is known that Catherine and Olivier de B. purchased the above-mentioned equipment in Hong Kong upon their arrival. C. also wrote a logbook during this journey to China, but it has not survived. Photographs were developed back in France in a professional photo lab.

Catherine and Olivier de B. were able to enter China thanks to the official invitation of their cousin (Jean-Paul Réau), who was the First Secretary in Beijing. Catherine and Olivier de B.’s mother and sister visited the country afterwards. Catherine and Olivier de B. departed from Toulouse on 23 July 1971. Their itinerary includes Paris, India, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, they took a third-class train to Beijing where they stayed most of the time, and visited Tianjin one day. On their way back, they took the Trans-Siberian Railway via Moscow, managed to travel from East to West Berlin, and went back to Toulouse.

Except from an interview published in 1971 as a series of articles in the local newspaper “La Croix du Midi”, photographs were neither diffused nor shown. Catherine and Olivier de B. participated in two conferences in Toulouse in the 1970s, which were organised by local travel associations.

Items are in a fairly good state of conservation, except some negatives and slides whose colours have been altered due to the passing of time. No specific inventory has been compiled. The legal owner explained that at least a hundred of colour slides were thrown away because of successive relocations. Based on the interview published in “La Croix du Midi”, it is known that a few roll films were confiscated at the Russian border on their way back. The legal owner originally donated the overall archive in common Kraft envelopes. It is currently held at the Bibliothèque du Centre d'Études sur la Chine Moderne et Contemporaine - CECMC. EHESS - Maison de l'Asie - 22 avenue du Président Wilson - 75016 Paris.
Temporal Coverage
Twentieth century (dates CE) See all item sets with this value
Spatial Coverage
Hong Kong See all item sets with this value
Guangzhou See all item sets with this value
Guangdong See all item sets with this value
Beijing See all item sets with this value
Mongolia See all item sets with this value
Subject
Travel photography See all item sets with this value
Vernacular photography See all item sets with this value
Color photography See all item sets with this value
Cultural Revolution See all item sets with this value
Landscapes (environments) See all item sets with this value
Street scenes See all item sets with this value
Townscapes (built environment) See all item sets with this value
Architecture See all item sets with this value
Language
French
location
Bibliothèque du CECMC See all item sets with this value
Paris See all item sets with this value
address
Bibliothèque du Centre d'Études sur la Chine Moderne et Contemporaine - CECMC. EHESS - Maison de l'Asie - 22 avenue du Président Wilson - 75016 Paris
cecmc.ehess.fr

Items

Advanced search