Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn

In central rural China, it is not customary to keep photographs of strangers. In addition, rural families would burn the photos of deceased family members. “The surviving photos in the book, some black and white, some hand colored, were obtained from closed-down studios and at flea markets," Wang Yong says.

Those are precious treasures which open an unexpected window for people today to peek into rural lives of the past, notes Jin Yongquan, a well-established photography critique.

Jin, who is also the editor of the book, notes: "In these pictures, one can easily see the traces of imitation of the way official portraits were taken in terms of light use, and how to pose and smile for camera. Yet，alongside the imitation of official propaganda pictures, rural photographers also developed and left their own mark in Chinese photography."

Wang Yong said his first photography work was a pure imitation of pictures from People’s Daily. Pointing at a photo taken in 1998, he said "that picture shows an electric team leader posing like a state leader, with his left hand rested on his hips, while the right hand is stretched out. At the time, even me, a photographer with the state power bureau, had no way to know what a good picture should look like. I thought those that came out in official newspapers must be good."

However, rural photographers in China are not merely picture-taking men, providing photographic services for peasants. Most significantly, Jin says, "they are rural image creators, and the mainstay of rural photography. They are the men who have educated peasants on how to appreciate beauty, how to pose for the camera, and an appreciation of imagery of backdrop scenarios."