Thirty years ago, students of School of journalism, Wuhan University were restoring their reading and living scenes through pieces of grainy black-and-white photos.
More than thirty thousand negatives photographed during 7 years have portrayed the picture what Wuhan University was like thirty years ago.
Alumnus Wang Jingchun took more than thirty thousand negatives when he studied in Wuhan Universiages.
In room326, No.3 Guiyuan Dormitory, Yu Langtian, a girl of 1994 grade in School of Journalist was sitting on the upper berth with the poster of Guo Fucheng hanging at the wall. The lower berth belongs to her classmate Liao Yan. On her bed laid a golden dog plush toy. The plaid sheet on the bed was uniformly handed out by the school.
Xiao Kua was sitting on the bed in a daze. On the wall, there was the lyric of a rock singer He Yong, who was one of the “Three heroes of magic rock” The lyric reading ‘Find a girlfriend or raise a dog’ was from his album Dump in 1994. The lyric were the pet phrase through which youngsters discredited themselves at that time, and it was similar to the “depression culture” today.
In the summer of 1997, at the door of the washroom on the fourth floor of No.8 Guiyuan Dormitory, Xun Guanlong from the Advertising Department of Journalism School was trying his new guitar.
At the western side of the hallway on the fourth floor of No.8 Guiyuan Dormitory, with No.6 Guiyuan Dormitory opposite the window, 1995 grade students Xun Guanlong and Ren Zhong from the Advertising Department were rehearsing for the sketch competition. The competition was to be held on the top of Yingyuan in Luojia Golden Autumn Art Festival. The window frame was draped with boys’ socks and shoes.
In No.8 Guiyuan Boys’ Dormitory, 1994 grade student Wei Haibo was showing off his muscles. [Boys that time were fond of body building, for a muscular body could be quite attractive to girls.] (original words of female students)
In room 327 of No.3 Guiyuan Dormitory, Fan Quan and Xiong Huajing, students of 1994 grade, were watching TV. One television was distributed to each class and each dorm could have a temporary possession of it for a week in turn. Martial arts drama and dramas made in Hong Kong and Taiwan areas were prevailing then.
The ball in Fengyuan
It seems that the movements and postures are behind the times. But they were indeed stylish atthat time.
Students were practicing dancing on Guiyuan Playground for the group dancing competition of Golden Autumn Art Festival. Dai Fei made the acquaintance of his wife who was one grade below him exactly in the dance team. They were dance partners.
Guiyuan boiler room which had already been torn down
Fetching water was a regular activity in schooldays.
Students of journalism were taking a photography practice course on the Second Yangtze River Bridge which was just open to traffic then. Students were posing for pictures, when there were few cars on the road.
Students were doing morning run on Guiyuan Playground. The girl who was reciting English must be a straight-A student. The cinder runway before are now replaced by plastic track.
Aerobics course in Songqing Gymnasium
At that time, students were ought to select their PE class when they were in the second grade. Baseball and aerobics were available for girls.
Canoeing training on the East Lake in 1992
In 1996, Sun Minli and Yuan Changyuan, who was on her upper bed, were selecting negatives together in Guiyuan, Wuhan University.
The summer of 1996
In Guiyuan Boys’ Dormitory
a leisurely afternoon
In 1993, Xu Jinru, Wei Qiang and others impersonated the sculpture of Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi in Wuhan Guqin Terrace.
Chen Qiong, a student in School of Computer Science were watching the behavioral art performed by a teacher Shu Qun from the School of Architecture.
In the graduation season in 1993, the photo exhibition of Xiao Hua, Wang Jingchun and Cui Bo were held in Fengyuan Canteen. Eating while viewing was a distinctive scene in the campus.
Returning to Wuhan University, classmates reunited with each other after 30 years, reminding the teenage moments with images.
As the graduation exam was around the corner, everyone was immersed in a mood of inexplicable resignation. Xiao Hua raised a Minolta 600 Camera in the front of the classroom and took a 20 mm super wide angle selfie. The scene was captured and recorded by Wang Jingchun. Thirty years later, Xiao Hua returned to the old place and restored the original scene. Raising the camera again, he was accompanied by his ten-year-old daughter, while his classmates were no longer there.
Thirty years before
Thirty years later
After the graduation exam, Song Zhenjiang stretched out in the classroom of the College of Science. He was the eldest student in the photography class and this was the most difficult exam. His mind finally set, he agilely climbed onto the table and asked Wang Jingchun to take a picture of him. Thirty years passed by like a fleeting show. Two contrastive photos are not only memories, but also the mark of growth. We can’t help wondering whether our life can be restarted.
Thirty years before
Thirty years later
Four students are filming for the poster used in graduation exhibition. That was a time when current of literary thoughts were surging and they were the pioneer. The graduation exhibition caused a stir and brought them lots of female fans.
Thirty years before
Thirty years later
Classmates are our fortunes for the whole life . Memories either. No matter good or bad, they always exist in the softest part within our innermost being.
A piece of photo, a sentence or an ordinary event are recorded consciously or unconsciously. Grievance and pleasure, tears and laughter flood out and we long for them with a song.
Time flies, and there are many things that slip from our memory. Fortunately, the pictures are still there, witnessing to the best memories on Luojia Mountain in those years.
Black and white without color, the pictures are vague due to the noise. One day, you find out the film from the bottom of your packing case. Then you call on your old classmate in the picture to go back to school. Ballads of youth are going to linger for many thirty years.
Written by 武昌区委宣传部《极光视觉》联合推出
Rewritten by Shen Yutian
Edited by Chen Muyin and Hu Sijia
