Oil paintings, traditional Chinese ink paintings and calligraphic works have been the most sought-after items for art collectors in China for a long time.

But collectors "have long ignored an untapped gold mine the vintage photos, particularly those of a documentary nature about social changes in modern China," said Gan Xuejun, general manager of Beijing Huachen Auctions, China's first auction house to present a special auction for at least 130 vintage photos from some of the best known Chinese photographers on November 23 at the Peninsula Beijing Hotel.

One of the most eye-catching lots is veteran artist and photographer Weng Naiqiang's vintage colour photo "Playing Back," capturing an unforgettable moment in modern Chinese history. It pictures a summer day in 1966 when late Chinese leader Mao Zedong stood at the Tian'anmen Rostrum waving the cap in his right hand to millions of Red Guards gathered in the Tian'anmen Square. Each of the young men and women were holding a little red book, containing the collection of Mao's most well known quotations.

With carefully designed composition, the photographer created such an illusion that Mao were standing on the stem of a titanic ship riding on the waves in an ocean. It was symbolic of Mao's status at that time as the "paramount leader, teacher and helmsman of proletarians in China."

Other photo highlights include rarely seen vintage photos of late Chinese leader Mao in the 1940s and 1950s by veteran photographers Hou Bo, Xu Xiaobing and Wu Yinxian.

He Yanguang's work focused on the 1984 National Day celebration and parade when Peking University students walked past the Tian'anmen Square, holding a banner with the characters "Xiaoping, Ninhao" (Hello, Xiaoping).

Xie Hailong's "Big Eyes," capturing a little girl in a poorly equipped rural primary school in remote area of East China's Anhui Province, is a photo that greatly fuelled the nationwide enthusiasm for donating money for the Hope Project to aid rural dropouts in the early 1990s.

Photography was introduced to China about 100 years ago and has become one of the most popular art genres for both professionals and amateurs. "Thanks to the popularity of photography in China, over the last 50 years or so, many historic events and interesting scenes have been captured by millions of Chinese photographers," said Xu Yong, a renowned Chinese photographer.

Xu's works about the vanishing or vanished hutong in the older areas of Beijing will be auctioned off by Huachen next Thursday in Beijing.

(China Daily November 17, 2006)