ABOUT THE INTERVIEW

Heilongjiang Daily photojournalist Li Zhensheng was 26 when the Cultural Revolution began in 1966. Led by unwavering conviction that the truth must be revealed to the masses in order for history not to repeat itself, the intrepid young man formed his own rebel news group, donned the red arm band and documented happenings behind the movement.

Over the next decade, he experienced the tragic deaths of loved ones, was plotted against by rivals, publicly denounced, and sent to the countryside for hard labour. Undeterred, he risked his life hiding away politically sensitive negatives, revealing them almost three decades later in a book titled Red-Color News Soldier, published by Phaidon in 2003.

In 2016, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Cultural Revolu- tion, Li held his first exhibition Witness: The Archive of Cultural Revolution in Southeast Asia as part of the Singapore International Photography Festival, presenting over 100 images that offered an unabashed account of life under Mao’s rule. Kong Yen Lin sat down with the man whose name is synonymous to courage and the pursuit of truth, and spoke about memories, photography and the need for critical self-examination.

An interview with Li Zhensheng by Kong Yen Lin