"Firstly, I thought the photographs I took in China weren't typical of my work at the time. Also, a Chinese friend who I respect originally saw the photographs and said 'The Chinese people don't want to be remembered for how poor they were.' So, out of respect, I put the photographs away for many years," she said.

But the idea of publishing the photographs has obsessed her for years.

"Barbara hopes someone will help her publish that book, so the world will see the seminal images she made in China," Shen added.

Born in 1928 in Chicago, Crane was exposed to photography through her father, who was not a professional but was passionate about the medium. As a child, Crane helped him in his basement darkroom.

Crane earned her bachelor's degree in art history at New York University, and in the 1960s, she received a master's degree from the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

After starting a photography program at New Trier High School, Crane went on to teach photography for 28 years at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. For most of her life, she worked as a photographer, creating highly formal, often abstract images of people and urban landscapes.

She is the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in Photography grant, two National Endowment for the Arts grants and an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award in photography.

Crane has participated in over 170 group exhibitions and featured in more than 75 solo exhibitions. Her work is included in numerous permanent collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago.

"Barbara is an icon, she is one of the classics," said Susan Anderson, an internationally recognized artist who studied with Crane in the 1980s at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. "I think she was way ahead of her time. Her works still look very contemporary."

Yu Peng, China's deputy consul general in Chicago, attended Crane's recent exhibition and said her work in China is a "precious treasure" that represents the cultural exchange between China and the US and the friendship between people of the two countries.

"She is a legend. As the first American photographer to travel in China freely after reform and opening-up, her artwork has important significance in helping to understand the country's social situation in that historical period," Yu said.

"Hopefully, through our efforts, we can promote the publication of the photo in China, even worldwide, in memory of the cultural exchange through photography between China and the US."

In 2009, Crane got to visit China again. "China's development is unbelievable," she said. "It's wonderful."

With good health, Crane dreams of going back to China to exhibit her work or sign what she hopes will be her new book celebrating the China of 1985.