历史的航程波澜壮阔，蓦然回首，还是影像生动地留下了昨日的辉煌与忧愁。人类经历万年，有文明记载的5000年，而眼睛可以真实地、形象地看到的历史只有180年。很幸运，我们生活在有影像的时代，对往事可以真切地感知。

        1978年，中国实现了伟大的历史性的转折，开启的改革开放的征程，书写了一个国家繁荣发展的壮丽史诗，激荡起一个民族生机勃勃的复兴气象。40年，在历史长河中是十分短暂的，但中国人民创造了人类的奇迹，不仅深刻地改变了中国，也极大地影响了世界。

        在中国改革开放前后几年间，十分有限的几位外国摄影师、记者先后踏上这块古老而神秘的土地，记录下当代中国社会的点滴画面。悠闲缓慢的市井百态、袅袅炊烟的农耕乡舍、淳朴却蓬勃的面孔、简单却盎然的生活，这些朴素的影像如同珍珠一般和辉煌的中国发展之路连缀在一起，珍存于中国时代飞跃的滚滚浪潮之中。

        40年后的2018年，举国上下都在进行有关改革开放40周年的庆祝活动，而此时，摄影便成为历史变迁最有力量的时间证明。中国摄影家协会主办的“中外摄影对着拍——庆祝中国改革开放40年摄影展”，以昨日的照片问候今天，以今日的影像探寻过去——邀约中国摄影人站在新的历史起点，以独到的观看与表达，构建和重塑具有国际化思维和话语的影像文化和视觉形象，与往事唱和，向时代凝望，为祖国颂祝。

        文字选自：《中外摄影对着拍》大型画册前言 （点击查看原文）

The voyage of history is magnificent. Looking back, we find it is the image that records yesterday's glories and sorrows. There are 10,000 years of human history and 5,000 years of written civilization, but only 180 years which can be truly and vividly seen through our eyes. Fortunately, we are living in an age of images, and we can perceive the past vividly through them.

In 1978, China achieved a great historic turning point, embarked on the journey of reform and opening-up, wrote a magnificent epic of prosperity and development of a country, and stimulated the vigorous rejuvenation of a nation. Forty years is very short in a long history, but Chinese people have created a miracle for mankind, which has not only profoundly changed China, but also greatly impacted the world.

In the years before and after China's reform and opening-up, a very limited number of foreign photographers and journalists have set foot on this ancient and mysterious land, recording contemporary Chinese society—leisurely and slow urban life, peaceful rural areas, unsophisticated but vigorous faces, and the simple but exuberant life. These simple images, like pearls, are connected with the brilliant road of China's development, and are treasured in the surging tide of fast-changing China.

In 2018, 40 years later, the whole country is celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up. At this time, photography has become the most convincing proof of historical changes. "Photographic Echo : Past and Present, China and Abroad—Photography Exhibition in commemoration of 40th Anniversary of China's Reform and Opening-up", sponsored by the China Photographers Association(CPA), invited Chinese photographers to express themselves at this new historical starting point, and to construct and reshape the photographic culture and visual images with international perspectives and voices, to echo the past, focus on the present and celebrate the great journey.