Lang Jingshan (Long Chin-san)

Acclaimed as the "Father of Asian Photography," Lang Jingshan is a highly influential pioneer in the history of Chinese photography. He created a unique "Composite Photography" technique infused with Eastern aesthetics, seamlessly integrating the spirit and imagery of traditional Chinese ink painting into black-and-white photography.

In 1928, Lang co-founded the Chunghwa Photographic Society. He held his debut solo exhibition in 1931 at the Shanghai Times, where his work Boating on the Willow Pond was selected for the 5th International Photographic Salon of Japan. In 1942, he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society (FRPS) for his thesis Composite Photography and Chinese Art. From the 1950s, he presided over the Photographic Society of China, and in 1966, he initiated the Federation of Asian Photographic Art. In 1980, he was named one of the Top Ten Photographers in the World by the Photographic Society of America. Beginning in 1981, he held a solo exhibition at the Musée Cernuschi in Paris, donated works to the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and participated in the inaugural Rencontres d'Arles. In 1991, the Palace Museum in Beijing held a centenary retrospective for him, followed by a major retrospective organized by the National Art Museum of China in 2013.

His works are currently held in prestigious global public and institutional collections, including the Musée Cernuschi, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Royal Photographic Society (UK), M+ (Hong Kong), the National Art Museum of China, the National Center of Photography and Images (Taiwan), the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum.