Photography is a common language amongst different places and groups of people. In the span of time and space, it has greatly influenced the life of every individual. From the moment it was born, photography has left a deep mark on historical representation, becoming a narrator and carrier of modern, global civilization. In today’s globalized vision of the cultural landscape, photography-as-art is playing a greater role in the evolution of every culture. In Europe, the birthplace of photography art, and Japan, where it has developed to a relatively mature stage, the photographic arts have reached a high standard, producing masters and masterpieces that excite people. The exhibition of the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre’s permanent collection of original works from Europe, America, and Japan embodies the most important values of photography art, namely the image’s aesthetic appeal and the true, individual impressions of the artists. These photographic works are rarely seen in the country, and contact with them can give audiences the historical coordinates and standards for evaluation for appreciating photography art. Through these works, viewers can also gain a more objective and complete understanding of Chinese contemporary arts’ development and course of growth. In a China that has experienced a vast amount of changes in the last thirty years, photographic art of all periods are making apparent their uniqueness and effect on cultural history. To a great extent, Chinese contemporary photography was produced under the influence of American and European photography, or amidst the flux of international photography. The differences produced an attempt to mutually understand and exchange. Chinese contemporary photography is now in this environment of convection, developing, and moving towards internationalism. Showing Chinese contemporary photography with the work of older European, American, and Japanese photographic masters provides a field for connecting Chinese contemporary photography and international photographic culture. The exhibition makes apparent each different image tradition’s uniqueness, exploring the value of the image in this era of rapidly changing history and envisioning the use and significance of photography in the society of the future.