CHINA 1981-1982 Ryoji Akiyama

In the early 1980s, China began to embrace the first stirrings of spring after a long winter. This photobook captures a historical and cultural landscape filled with hope and the soft light of the early "Reform and Opening-up" era. It documents scenes of production, construction, and leisure—moments that have now faded into distant memory.

From hand-painted signs and red public telephone booths to youths racing on bicycles and people strolling in blue Mao suits, each frame brings the awakening of an era back to life. The scent of the '80s—morning mist, rising dust, and laundry drying in the sun—seems to drift from the pages.

Following the massive success of the 2019 reissue of Dear Old Days (Hello, Little Friends) in China, several sequels were published using previously unreleased negatives from Ryoji Akiyama’s five trips between 1981 and 1982. However, with over 7,000 negatives still unseen, Akiyama returned to his archives to curate this new volume. Shifting the focus away from "children," this collection returns to the core of what compelled Akiyama to press the shutter, offering a direct experience of his photographic style and the subtle signs of change budding in a nation on the brink of transformation.