Poetic Laoshan | My Old Cameras: The Story of the Scenic Area’s First-Generation Photographer
This is Qu Xinchun’s most treasured cabinet: inside, quietly placed, are over a dozen old cameras—domestic, imported, 120 and 135 format, single-lens, twin-lens, manual, fully automatic, and even instant cameras…
“They were my face on the street back then, the tools I used to make a living and earn my bread—my most loyal old friends.”
Qu Xinchun often visits these old friends: service tools that emerged with the country’s reform and opening-up and the development of Laoshan’s tourism. From the worn marks on the camera bodies, one can almost see their past contributions, and his thoughts slowly drift back to those times…
“I was only 7 that year. I took my two younger sisters with one yuan from our mother to get a photo taken. The ‘formal portraits’ had long lines, and we didn’t want a ‘wild photo,’ so we never got one—a lifelong regret.”
At that time, photo studios offered two types: indoor shots with a large-format camera, called ‘formal portraits,’ and outdoor shots, called ‘wild photos.’
In 1969, Qingdao’s Zhongshan Road Evergreen Photo Studio came to Taiqing Palace during the first lunar month to take photos for local troops and residents. Door-to-door photo service was an absolute godsend in an era when getting a photo taken was difficult. Many people ran over to watch the excitement, and many elderly, who had never been photographed and were a bit afraid of the unknown, still came in large numbers to have their pictures taken.
“Back then, photography was a niche profession with few practitioners; it was hard to get started. I was honored to become a Laoshan photographer, and my license number was 1!”
In the 1980s, after Deng Xiaoping’s inspection visit to Taiqing Palace in Laoshan, the government began to vigorously explore Laoshan’s Taoist culture and develop the tourism service industry, including privately-run photography businesses. Through study and practice, Qu Xinchun gradually mastered photography techniques and how to develop and enlarge black-and-white photos. In 1983, he passed the exam and obtained an individual photography business license.
“Taking photos during the day, developing and packaging them at night, and mailing them out the next morning—every day my hands and feet never stopped. Sometimes I couldn’t sleep all night, and then had to keep working the next day.”
In the early 1980s, although tourism in Laoshan was just starting, visitor numbers were already large. There were no private cars; people mostly came by rental buses, hotel coaches, or company buses. Seeing such beautiful mountain and sea scenery, everyone wanted a souvenir photo, and photographers were constantly busy. The photo business was booming.
Photo @ Pang Shucai
“In 1984, we started using 135 cameras. The first batch were Huqiu brand, the domestic ‘Ganguang’ 304C, and Japanese point-and-shoots like Yashica and Konica. Later, almost all were replaced by SLRs: Japanese Fuji and Ricoh, domestic Pearl River and Phoenix, and so on.”
At first, Qingdao didn’t have color film processing, so exposed color rolls had to be mailed to Shanghai. Later, a color lab on Jiaxiang Road in Xizhen, run by Shandong teachers, became very popular. The photography business picked up again, and equipment kept upgrading. Qingdao Camera Factory began producing Qingdao-brand 135 cameras with only focal length adjustment, and camera shops started offering a wider variety of cameras and lenses.
As reform and opening-up deepened, the national economy boomed. More tourists brought their own cameras, and most cities could process color film. In 1988, instant cameras like Polaroid appeared, mainly Japan’s Fuji and America’s Kodak, which extended the scenic photo business for a few more years.
“Although they are outdated and no longer useful, they will always be my cherished memories. They witnessed our country’s prosperity, recorded the changes of Laoshan, and gave me a fulfilling life. I am sincerely grateful for them and treasure them deeply.”
As technology advanced, traditional photography gradually faded from the stage. But cameras and the photo business are a microcosm of an era, a reflection of social and economic development, and a true portrayal of people’s happy lives, preserving those precious visual memories for us.
And Laoshan itself has transformed from a traditional backdrop for souvenir photos into a comprehensive tourism demonstration area with numerous Instagram-worthy spots. Both the changes and what remains unchanged are all beautiful.
