After watching the secret photos of Chinese children 40 years ago, I understood why it is difficult for children to be happy now

Japanese photographer Ryoji Akiyama

He came to China to give to Chinese children in the 80s

Filmed a photo album "Hello Little Friend"

Join you today

Feel the beauty of the times that belonged only to that year.

Children holding guns in Beijing's Tiananmen Square

In Kunming, a little girl who eats melon seeds

On Hainan Island, children drinking coconut juice

Children in Shanghai, a commercial street

In Chengdu, children eat popsicles together

In Urumqi, a child wearing an officer's hat

In Suzhou, a child wearing a belly pocket

Akiyama says photographing children is an important theme for him. The children are very happy to shoot, and they will immediately enter that world, as if they have changed back to their childhood.

A little girl in a skirt

I was sitting in front of the tailor's shop and reading a book

Popsicles at that time were often placed in foam boxes

Cover it with a thick quilt and sell it along the street

In the mottled alley, the boys unscrewed the taps

Drink freely

On the weekend, three or five little friends

About a cheerful fishing together

Ask which kid is sitting on the front bar

Haven't you ever had an ass?

At the rally, make a grimace together

Children playing on the horizontal bar

When the school organizes an outing, it is really happy and fairy-like

Little sisters who come home from school together

Most of the children in Beijing are dressed in very elaborate clothes

At that time, embroidered jackets and checked berets were fashionable

Effortlessly decorate them

Become a small adult with a strong spirit

Shanghai is also very modern, and the playground is red, blue and white spaceships

It was the right jealous harvester at the time

Before coming to China, Akiyama also took some pictures of Japanese children.

When someone asked him what was the difference between the children in the two countries, he said that "Chinese children are more lively, they can do homework on the street, and they can play crazy in the alleys with their partners."

Love of learning is Akiyama's deepest impression of Chinese children. In front of the book stalls in many cities, there are always primary school students gathered there, holding books and reading them motionlessly, which is very obsessive.

A book stand by the road

Not just adults,

Many children also go to borrow books

A female classmate reading quietly in the classroom

A teenager who studied in the alley until the evening

Walking is addicted to the world of books

In addition to learning, the children who "can play" are deeply rooted in Akiyama's memory. In the early '80s, schooling wasn't as heavy as it is now, and there weren't as many cram schools, and kids had a variety of programs to play.

Draw on the ground with a stone

Two people jump rope together

You can also play volleyball

Break your wrist in the classroom

Climb bamboo poles outside the school

Weave a wide variety of glass filaments

Talented children are also fighting! Those who learn to dance in the classroom, those who learn to draw, those who learn musical instruments, those who learn acrobatics...

Learn to dance

Learn a variety of musical instruments

Learn acrobatics

Sweaty and hard to practice painting skills

Push the legs hard

Ryoji Akiyama's works have reminded many Chinese friends of their lost childhood, those warm and happy pictures flash by, and there is a moment of quiet in the noisy heart.

As a humanistic photographer, his works have been collected by well-known museums in New York and Tokyo. But when he brought these pictures of Chinese children back to Japan. The Japanese media and the public were impressed.

"In these Chinese children, we see the simple smiles and straightforward eyes that have been missing for a long time, and the serenity that blends into the scenery, making people stretch and be happy."

In such an era when the sky is blue and the water is leisurely, and we can laugh carefreely, who can not miss it?

More works

Source: Precious rare old photographs, copyright belongs to the original author