Chen Shilin, 79, started developing, colouring and retouching photographs in 1944 and went on to help the famed International Photo Supply Company set up offices in Hong Kong and Taiwan. He returned to the mainland in 1950 and soon became head of photo-processing at Xinhua News Agency. The 'darkroom master' discusses his work, including four official portraits he created of Mao Zedong , one of which can still be seen on the nation's currency.
How did you become a specialist in retouching photographs?
I like taking photos but I also like the technical aspects of retouching them. I started working at a relative's studio in Yangzhou when I was 15, and because the studio was small I needed to learn all the skills for producing a photo. Two years later, I joined the biggest studio in Nanjing , which was founded by the famous war photographer, Gao Lingmei.
But personal interest aside, it was a pragmatic choice. At that time the market needed this type of talent and the pay was generous - I could earn 30 yuan (HK$34) colouring a 30cm black-and-white photo and I could colour more than 10 photos a day. It was not easy.
I worked 12 hours a day, colouring in the day and developing photos in the darkroom at night. But by the time I was 19, I was already a division head for the company's office in Taiwan. I enjoyed researching new retouching skills and I invented a way of replicating negatives, which allowed for accurate mass production of retouched propaganda photographs across the country.
How did you come to retouch Mao's photos?