Cherished photos become family heritage
Old celebrity photos are displayed in the opulent sixth-floor studio.
The venerable photo studio was established in 1921.
With a smartphone, everyone can take photos, anywhere, anytime and in the blink of an eye. But does ubiquity breed mediocrity?
For many people, commonplace happy snaps are ephemeral. For them, having professional photos taken in a studio are still the best way of creating cherished memories.
It’s a bit of a throwback to a time gone by, when there were no smartphones and digital cameras, and photos were a rare, special luxury.
“Only when rich couples got married or a family reunited for the holidays did people have themselves photographed,” said Zhou Jianmin, 59, photographer and restorer of old photos at Wangkai Photography.
Wangkai, located on Nanjing Road E., has been in business since 1921, capturing life’s special moments for generations of people. There were once many photo studios in Shanghai, but four were considered a cut above the rest: Wangkai, Renmin, China and Aihaozhe studios. Only Wangkai remains its original size.
In its heyday, it was popular with celebrities. Many iconic Chinese singers and film stars, such as Zhou Xuan (Chow Hsuan), Ruan Lingyu (Lily Yuen) and Hu Die (Butterfly Wu) left their “faceprints” at the studio.
“We store generations of memories,” said Shen Xiao, manager of Wangkai Photography.
The old portrait of Zhou Xuan, a famous Chinese singer and film actress
Since its founding, Wangkai Photography has been operating on busy Nanjing Road.
Having a photo taken was once an elaborate, respected process.
“I once encountered an elderly man, coming in to have family photos with his children and granddaughter,” Shen said.
“He told me that when he was young, he pinched and scraped for three months in order to afford a set of pre-wedding photos with his wife at Wangkai. They cost him around 30 yuan.”
Walking along the bustling Nanjing Road pedestrian street on a Sunday afternoon, I decided to visit the Wangkai photo studio. I found it was divided into three sections — prenuptial photography, family portrait photography and child photography.
Customers have a wide range of backdrops they can choose. A rickshaw. Baroque-style furniture. An artificial cherry tree in blossom. Various scenes mimicking Chinese, European and Korean settings.
Holding onto a suit, one man was snoozing while staff helped his fiancée apply elaborate makeup.
Unlike today’s prenuptial snaps, which feature a change of several costumes and numerous interior and exterior scenes, wedding photos of the past were quire simple.
“During the ‘cultural revolution,’ people were not allowed to perm their hair or wear colorful clothing,” Zhou said. “Couples just wore work uniforms or simple sweaters when getting photos taken.”
After China initiated its reform and opening-up policies in 1978, Western-style weddings began creeping into cultural tradition. In the 1980s, a set of three pre-wedding photos were all the rage, consisting of full-length and half-length portraits of the couple and an individual photo of the bride-to-be.
“A pearl necklace, a bouquet of artificial flowers and a wedding dress were the three necessities for the bride-to-be,” said Zhou.
The grooms-to-be wore suits with dickeys, or false shirt fronts.
According to Zhou, the suits were provided by Wangkai, and to prevent thefts because the garments were expensive, the company sewed its name into the clothing.
In 1979, Wangkai invested considerable money in photo-printing machines and pioneered color photography services in China.
In the same year, a photographer of Wangkai created a backdrop called “red sun,” which set a plump, dazzling solar image in the center of a couple. The image was produced by a light behind the backdrop. It was hugely popular with couples in the early 1980s, becoming a sort of symbol of the times.
A prenuptial photo from the 1950s
The iconic “red sun” backdrop popular in the 1980s
A modern prenuptial photo, with the Bund as backdrop
Like many others in Shanghai, my parents had their pre-wedding photos taken at Wangkai. The year was 1992. Retrieving the old photos from the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet, my mother couldn’t help but laugh.
“He was thin back then,” my mother said of my father.
Wearing a suit and holding a pair of white gloves, my father looks tall and handsome.
“Don’t be deceived by the photos,” my mother warned me. “Your father was actually standing on a wooden stool hidden by my wedding dress.”
From tears to laughter, photos evoke personal emotions. They don’t lose their magic, no matter how old they are.
Family portraits are the signature service of Wangkai. They are taken on the sixth floor. On the Sunday I was there, the place was crowded. Some families were getting makeup applied; others were all set and waiting for the shoot. Some were choosing among photos taken earlier. All were well dressed and exuded happiness.
“My local friend recommended this time-honored photo studio to me,” said Flora Zhao, who is from Australia and lives with her husband and two children in Shanghai now. “My parents have flown from Guangdong Province to Shanghai to visit us. It is a rare chance for us to take family portraits.”
Wearing a military uniform, a man in his 50s stood out among the crowd. The four stars of his insignia indicated he was a senior colonel.
“Today is my son’s wedding anniversary, so I invited the parents of my daughter-in-law to join us in a family portrait,” he said. “I have never had a photo taken in this uniform with my family members, so I choose to wear it today.”
According to the officer, he and his relatives — numbering about 20 people — had a family portrait taken at Wangkai 14 years ago. He said he had planned to bring the old photo on this day but had forgotten it.
The studio walls are filled with family portraits — a reminder that the family still lies at the heart of Chinese life.
“Normally in a photo, the elderly sit in the middle of the family and the eldest child sits on the left,” said Shen, describing a seating arrangement that reflects the Chinese virtue of respecting the old and cherishing the young.
More than just photos, the studio is a place of stories.
“We meet many families every day and each has its own story,” said Zhao Yang, who manages the family portrait department.
She said she once encountered a female customer crying in the restroom. When asked if she needed help, the woman said her father had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and would be admitted to hospital after the family portrait was taken.
“We arranged for them to be served immediately,” said Zhao. “Several days later, the woman returned to the studio to select photos. She was crying again because her father had died and would never see the pictures.”
Zhao showed me her own family portraits.
“All the children have grown taller, of course,” she said, pointing to various people in the pictures. “My grandmother looks vigorous in the picture, but now she has Alzheimer’s. Although she suffers from memory loss, she still remembers the family portrait and can name everyone in it.”
Moments frozen on pieces of paper. Time captured in a special moment. Families whose memories never fade. Wangkai takes pride in the role it serves.
Photos before and after restoration
