"Beijing, 1984"
This event marks the opening of a photo exhibition featuring the work of veteran Chinese photojournalist, Wang Wenlan. The exhibition will run April 3- May 12.

A symposium to highlight the evolution of photojournalism, “From Local to Global — Photojournalism in the New Millennium,” will introduce the work of noted international photographers and distinguished scholars to the University of Iowa campus and community.

The symposium, with presentations on topics ranging from representations of rural Iowa and rural China to documentation of global events to cutting-edge digital photo projects will take place on Friday, April 3, 2015. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. in the rotunda of the Adler Journalism Building, with the program running until 6 p.m. See the full schedule.

Students, faculty, staff, area journalists and community members are welcome to attend. Admission is free and lunch will be provided. However, space is limited.

To reserve a spot, send an email to the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies with “Photo Program” in the subject line and your name, affiliation and contact information in the message.

Speakers include:

• Wang Wenlan, senior photographer, China Daily, Beijing, visiting Iowa in connection with the first major U.S. showing of his work, which will be exhibited in the Adler Journalism Building from April 3 through May 12.
• David Guttenfelder, National Geographic Fellow, former longtime Associated Press chief Asia photographer, and UI alumnus, named 2013 Instagram photographer of the year for his unprecedented images of daily life in North Korea.
• Jonathan Woods, senior photo and multimedia editor, Time magazine, whose photo projects range from the top of the Empire State Building to the bottom of the ocean.
• Marji Guyler-Alaniz, Iowa photographer and creator of the FarmHer project, documenting work and lives of Midwestern farm women.
• Anthropologists Dr. Rubie Watson & Dr. Maris Gillette Boyd, presenting photographic portrayals of China from the 1920s into the 1940s
• Historian and journalist Dr. Wayne Xing, presenting the work of pioneering sociologist Sidney Gamble, who photographed daily life in rural China during the first three decades of the 20th century

This event marks the opening of the photo exhibition “Depicting Post-revolutionary China: The Photojournalism of Wang Wenlan,” in the Resource Center Gallery of the UI School of Journalism & Mass Communication, E350 Adler Journalism Building. The exhibit is open to the public April 3 - May 12, 2015, Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and by special appointment – for visits outside regular hours, contact Professor Judy Polumbaum, exhibition curator.

The featured photographer, Wang Wenlan, has produced an especially rich chronicle of a changing society in post-Mao China. A native of Beijing, one of four brothers who would take up the camera as a hobby that became an occupation, Wang began his career as an army photographer in the 1970s. He gained broad experience and wide acclaim as the first photographer hired by the national English-language newspaper China Daily when it began publication in 1981. The images Wang has captured over the past four decades take us from China’s countryside to the growing cities, from nature to agriculture to constructed landscapes, from collective to individual endeavors and from public to personal life. They convey labor and leisure, solitude and companionship, routine and surprises, the endurance of tradition, the quandaries of development, and a great deal of humor and whimsy.

Wang Wenlan is far from the only Chinese photojournalist whose work merits a much broader general audience outside China. But he is one of the most discerning, experienced and accomplished, and we are lucky for this opportunity to showcase his work on the University of Iowa campus.

Major support for this project comes from UI’s Office of the Vice President for Research and Center for Asian & Pacific Studies, with additional sponsorship from International Programs, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and the School of Journalism & Mass Communication.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Dr. Dongwang Liu in advance at dongwang-liu@uiowa.edu or 319-335-1305.