150 years of NW China imagery in Ningxia photo show

More than 1,200 photos and videos are on show at Xibei, a photography exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, which shows the changes in the imagery of Northwest China since the late 19th century. The bulk of the images on show are for public viewing for the first time.

The exhibition begins with a section to show photos taken between 1870 and 1949, largely by Western missionaries, explorers, journalists and photographers who visited Northwest China for various purposes. The first part features works of Zhuang Xueben, one of China's first ethnographic photographers who extensively traveled and documented the country's hinterland mainly during the 1930s and '40s; Walter Bosshard, the Swiss photographer known internationally for his coverage of Asia; and German female photographer Hedda Morrison, whose documentary photos of Chinese cities are of historic significance.