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Photographs and memory
For most of the twentieth century, Chinese families owned few photographs. A visit to a 照相馆 was planned for weddings, birthdays and departures, and the prints were kept in albums or under the glass of a desk. Many families lost photographs in house moves, floods or the political campaigns of the 1960s, when some were destroyed for fear of what they showed. Documentary makers often use such photographs as transitions between interviews. They also use them to check memories: a dated print can confirm or correct a year, though, as 顾阿婆 shows, people often remember the taste of something more surely than the date. Borrowing a family's photographs is a matter of trust, which is why Alex promises to return every one exactly as it was.