How to place the image memory of Shanghai?

Recently, I was invited to be a consultant of Shanghai Audio-visual Archive. The main task of Shanghai Audio-visual Archive is to collect video materials about Shanghai. This is a good thing for the preservation of visual memory in Shanghai, an international metropolis. Human memory, through the body senses, especially the eyes, preserves a large number of visual materials that provide memory. The city also has the organ of the eye that preserves memory, which originated from cameras, including cameras, movie cameras and video cameras. In this way, in addition to the Shanghai Audio-visual Archive, Shanghai also needs a place to store such plane image materials as photos. Historically, as a pioneer of modern urbanization in China, the pace of Shanghai becoming an international metropolis has always kept pace with the development and prosperity of photography. The developed photo studio industry that meets the requirements of citizenship, newspapers and photo illustrated newspapers that provide sufficient visual information, and private family images hidden by citizens have all contributed to photography. In the whirlpool of modernity, many important figures in China's photography history have emerged. , Lang Jingshan, Jin, Zhuang Xueben, Sha Fei, Ye and others have all woven a rich history of Shanghai's visual memory with their own different perspectives and visual styles. Besides China people, many foreigners living in China or Shanghai also participated in the activities of creating Shanghai's visual memory. The photos of Shanghai taken by people for different purposes ultimately bear the visual memory of the rise and fall of a city and become the common wealth of Shanghai citizens, China people and people all over the world. The question is, where is the safe place for such a rich visual memory of Shanghai? In a world-class metropolis, there is always a place for photography in its cultural facilities. Moreover, the bigger the city, the more photography is involved in its cultural mechanism. Because photography is born (born) as a means of city record. And all aspects of the city are naturally photographed in the camera lens. Personally, I think that in the creation of modern culture, only cities are attracted by countless heroes. Cities, only cities, are the dynamic mechanism of modern cultural creation. In a real metropolis, it is impossible for photography to be absent from the spontaneous or intentional setting of its cultural institutions. The texture, pulsation and human activities of modern cities will only show their complexity, vividness and richness under the observation of cameras. Of course, the enchanting amorous feelings of interesting cities are far from being summarized by these three characteristics. For example, new york proudly calls itself the capital of photography. Moreover, new york is not only satisfied with the title of the self-styled photography capital or his seal. It has a photography museum called International Photography Center in Times Square. This museum has a rich photographic collection, even more than 500 images of 1938 China taken by Kappa. Besides, landmark museums in new york, such as Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art, all have rich and unique photographic collections. Obviously, new york, a metropolis, has not only a large number of photographic materials related to urban memory and commensurate with the city's international status, but also a wealth of visual materials related to human memory. Similarly, in Paris, the hometown of photography, there is a European photography studio with a global view. In Tokyo, there is the Tokyo Museum of Photography, a public art institution with more than 28,000 photos and historical documents. It can be said that the Museum of Photography seems to be the basic accessory of a metropolis. So is the standard. This is not to say that the existence of a photography museum should be a timely measure of comparison between metropolises. That's not true. A real metropolis is confident enough to develop cultural institutions that match its own history and culture. However, one thing is certain, that is metropolis. When it is called a metropolis, it naturally accumulates an unlimited amount of image data, and it naturally needs an institution to undertake the responsibility of collection, storage and sharing. The problem is that it depends on whether the owners and citizens of the city realize the importance of urban memory. Of course, I dare not say that citizens who don't realize the importance of collecting and preserving video materials including photos in this city can't afford to be citizens. It is said that Shanghai is planning a museum, which is in line with the Metropolitan Museum of New York. Such ambition and heroism are certainly commendable. Although I personally feel that this is not a move that reflects Shanghai's self-confidence. In my opinion, carefully planning a photography museum containing Shanghai's visual memory may be more like a move to show Shanghai's self-confidence. Judging from Shanghai's cultural agenda, is it possible for Shanghai to prepare a practical and quiet photography museum for today and tomorrow? It should be noted that to understand the past lives of Shanghai today, photos of Shanghai's past are an essential memory element. (The author is a professor and visual analysis expert at Fudan University) Input Editor: Xue Dongxia.