Masterworks by photographers Man Ray, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa and other legends in the art of light are on exhibit at the Shanghai Art Museum. The subjects range from Paris at night to close-up wartime photos, writes Wang Jie.

One glimpse that one never forgets - that's the power of a master's photograph.

"Man Ray & Other Master Photographers," an exhibition featuring more than 200 works by the world's master photographers, is underway at the Shanghai Art Museum.

On loan from the collection of Etsuro Ishihara, a Japanese collector, the show is rare in its diversity and its number of masterworks.

While showing classic photographs of the 19th century, it is dominated by the works of major figures of key movements in 20th century photography.

Getting photography back into the exhibition hall is a major objective, says Fang Zengxian, director of the Shanghai Art Museum. The museum began to emphasize the art of contemporary photography last year.

"This exhibition presents many brilliant tracks in the history of photography. The creators are indefatigable masters who leave behind a glorious treasure in the short history of this medium."

For example, in the 19th century section, visitors will find Etienne Carjat's (1826-1906) portraiture and Eadweard Muybridge's (1830-1904) motion photography; the streets of Paris caught by the bulky machine of Eugene Atget (1857-1927), who recorded Paris for later generations.

In the 20th century, representative works of Edward Weston (1886-1958), "Two Shells and Nude" changed people's awareness of the value of photography.

The two pictures link the detailed curve of two shells with a sitting nude's smooth curve.

The show highlights Man Ray (1890-1976), a master of Modernist experiments and a major figure of Dadaism and surrealism. Ray broke conceptual conventions of photography.

As a pioneer of abstract photography in America, he treated objects or figures in his lense with humor.

The exhibition also presents great works of documentary photography by European and American photographers of the 20th century, says Xiao Xiaolan, the exhibition curator.

They include the Paris of night shot by Henri Cartier-Bresson, whose works started the tradition of recording modern city life with the camera; the close-up wartime photographs taken by the pioneer of war photography Robert Capa, who unveils the reality of death and suffering; the works of Robert Frand and William Klein of the 1950s, which are more subjective and carry the photographers' emotions and personal judgment.

"If you are shutterbugs but lack academic knowledge of photography, this is an exhibit worth visiting," Xiao says.

It covers many representative works of sundry styles, ranging from high art, pictorial, impressionistic, candid, naturalistic and straight photography to Dadaism, abstract, surrealism, new realism and new color photography.

True, the distance between framed reality and real nature is always the inspiration for photographers.

Jeanloup Sieff (1933-2000) once said, "There is no good or bad among subjects, the only difference is how they are viewed."

Date: through January 31 9am-5pm
Address: 325 Nanjing Rd W.
Admission: 20 yuan
Tel: 021-6327-2829