Recording history through photos

Zhang Wei sorts his collection at home. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Being an ordinary staff member at the truck workshop for FAW Jiefang Automotive, is not the only facet to Zhang Wei's personality; he is also an automobile photographer and has taken nearly 500,000 pictures to record the development of the workshop and the automobiles made there.

Zhang is in his 60s and joined in the workshop in 1980, and three years later he bought a camera and started to teach himself photography.

Zhang shoots a photo at the workshop. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

He has photographed everything in the workshop, including the factory itself, the trucks being manufactured, and the daily work of his colleagues.

In the past 30 years, Zhang has used his camera to record the history of the workshop and the old lives of its staff.

Aside from shooting pictures, Zhang has also collected photos and documentaries about the factory from flea markets.

He is supposed to retire this year but he hopes to continue collecting and record the development of the factory.

Workers assemble parts for trucks in this photograph by Zhang. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]