Memorial Hall of the Victims: portrait photography, war-political narratives and transformation from exhibition media

Abstract

This study takes the Memorial Hall of the Victims of Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders as a case to discuss how the portrait photography exhibitions transform the modern individual into a collective mind, especially from the period or memory of the War of Resistance. By analyzing the inherent attributes of portrait photography, this article situates the general effect of the media and genre, as well as the mode of narrative in this specific type of museum exhibition.