Hou Bo (1924–2017) was a renowned Chinese photographer who, along with her husband Xu Xiaobing, served as one of the primary official photographers for Mao Zedong. Born into a poor peasant family in Shanxi Province, she joined the Communist Party at age 14 and began learning photography during the Second Sino-Japanese War. From 1949 to 1961, she lived in Zhongnanhai and captured over 400 of the most widely circulated photographs of Mao Zedong, ranging from formal propaganda images used for posters to intimate family portraits. She was known as a 'red wall photographer' and received significant international recognition for her work documenting the rise of the People's Republic of China.[1,2]
Mao Tsetung: A Selection of Photographs1978 · The People's Fine Arts Publishing House Foreign Languages Press · book · EnglishCo-authored with Xu Xiaobing.
Exhibitions
2004Hou Bo & Xu Xiaobing Mao's PhotographersPhotographers' Gallery, Londongroup
Awards
1959First Prize in the National Photography Exhibition
Mao Tsetung: A Selection of Photographsphotographer