点睛:现代摄影
署书:乔惠民(中国国土经济学会研究室主任、深圳原《现代摄影》杂志编辑部主任、李媚助手)
导读:李新宇(国土名片网现代摄影栏目主持)
摄影师肖全:我们这一代
米奥
2016年与2017年交汇之际,那个被誉为“中国最好的人像摄影师”——肖全,又来到西子湖畔。与三十多年前、拿着相机走在杭城大街上漫无目的地“扫街”不同,此次他带来了自己的摄影展。
展览中最引人注目的,依旧是那组上世纪八九十年代文艺圈中的名人肖像。余华、崔健、窦唯、三毛、顾城……当这些原本难以触及的“熟人面孔”,如今以十分陌生又极其自然的状态出现在我们眼前,我们终于明白,他们曾经有过的渴望、失落以及对命运的抗争,每一个人都经历过,或者正在学习如何更好地与它相处。
杭州,肖全人像摄影的起点
杭州,是肖全人像摄影开始的地方。
肖全在杭州的此次影展,没有秉持以往在其他城市的一贯风格。他在原本计划中的“我们这一代”的巡展中,首次展出了30多年来的肖像作品集,将影展取名为“肖全肖像摄影作品展”。肖全说,藉此代表他对杭州的感恩。在浙江美术馆观看展出的人们,有幸窥得他这段重要的人生轨迹。
20世纪80年代肖全在北京当兵,那时他已经开始对“光影”着迷。他订了很多摄影杂志,随身带着一台海鸥牌照相机,捕捉他眼里的光景。1983年,肖全来到杭州,在部队疗养院疗养。他遇到了两位前辈——新中国第一部体育题材彩色故事片《女篮5号》的摄影黄绍芬、上海电影制片厂的老厂长徐桑楚。两位老人便成了他的拍摄对象。
从此,他手中的镜头开始对准人像,并生出独特的感触。短短一个月间,肖全背着相机,在玉皇山路、南山路上,走走停停。肖全镜头下上世纪80年代的杭州,有池塘边浣洗衣裳的大姐、有大树下的磨剪刀人,也有长凳上想着心事的年轻人。走进展厅看到的第一部分,展示的11张照片便是这个时间段拍摄的。
其中一张四人肖像照,感染力极强。黑白画面中,四个衣着朴素的小女孩正坐在地上,对着镜头笑得东倒西歪。即便已经过去30多年,肖全依旧记得那天拍照的情形。
那是初春的一个下午,阳光正好,肖全像往常一样出来闲逛。走到一个小池塘前,发现坐在旁边的四个小女孩。她们正快乐地将抓起来的小蝌蚪和小鱼倒进水杯里。暖阳下,无忧无虑的笑声拨动着心弦,肖全赶紧拿起相机,按下了快门。他还认真抄下了每个人的名字,将自己在北京部队的地址留给她们。
小姑娘们曾写信给肖全,但后来通信断了。肖全在这张照片后面写上了四个女孩的名字,取名为《被照上了》,但可惜一直没寄出去。2016年12月21日,展览开幕当天,肖全站在放大了的这张照片前面,当年的情景再次涌现。肖全现场自拍了一段视频,讲述了33年前的故事。他想知道她们的现状,她们这些年过得好不好。
几天后的下午,四个女人来到展厅,走到照片前,抱着笑成一团。肖全看到这一幕,感叹时光倒流,自嘲着自己都有皱纹了。肖全兴奋地打开旁边的陈列柜,找出了那台海鸥205,当初他就是用这台相机拍的。此刻,各自拥有不同故事的四姐妹,在33年前的照片前再次留下合影。时光,在这一刻重叠,这便是光影的魔力。
跟着马克·吕布拍中国
展厅中有一片墙壁被刷成了耀眼的红色,那是肖全用红色纪念他的导师、已故的著名摄影师马克·吕布。
法国摄影家马克·吕布,是20世纪50年代首位获准进入中国拍摄的西方摄影师。从1957年开始,马克·吕布先后22次访问中国,记录了中国半个世纪的巨变。在中国,他留下了包括中国领导人毛泽东、周恩来以及越南领导人胡志明的肖像在内的诸多经典照片。
1993年初,马克·吕布又将来中国前,希望找一位摄影师作为助手。肖全得知这个消息,毫不犹豫地推荐了自己。接着便开始恶补英语,大量翻阅马克·吕布和西方摄影师的书籍。不久后,肖全如愿以偿。他一路追随马克·吕布拍摄中国,与马克·吕布开始了长达20多年的友谊。
在他的眼中,马克·吕布不仅是神话般的传奇人物,也是言传身教的好导师。肖全带着马克·吕布去了人流汹涌的广州火车站,把镜头对准潮水般拥挤的购票人群。他们又去了电器城。
马克·吕布相机从不离身。有天傍晚收工,肖全说,终于可以把照相机装进摄影包里了。马克·吕布一脸严肃地说,“如果在餐厅里碰上了邓小平,我看你拍不拍。”
肖全曾带着马克·吕布在上海串走弄堂。有一次,马克·吕布见到一个老太太正在生煤球炉,刚刚举起相机就被发现了,老太太操起手上的火钳边骂边追着他跑。事后,他们为没有拍下这个生动的场面后悔无比。在中国拍照遇到麻烦不能脱身时,马克·吕布有自己的招数。他会从钱包里取出他拍摄的周恩来竖起两个指头的著名照片当作“通行证”,屢试不爽。
马克·吕布告诉肖全:“你一定要去巴黎,到时候我给你带路。”多年来,他们的联系一直未断。去巴黎、与马克·吕布一起摄影,成了肖全心里长久以来的愿望。终于,2009年的夏天,肖全从威尼斯坐了一天的火车来到巴黎。马克·吕布很快记起一同在中国工作的日子。他高兴地拿起玩具相机,给肖全拍照。
他俩最后一次见面在2013年。肖全正在巴黎旅行,得知马克·吕布的身体状况不好。肖全爬上埃菲尔铁塔,在马克·吕布当年拍摄成名作《油漆工》的位置,拍摄了日落中的铁塔,向马克·吕布致敬。第二天,他去见了马克·吕布最后一面。
2016年8月30日,马克·吕布于巴黎因病去世,享年93岁。“我会像马克·吕布一样,一直拍到走不动为止。”肖全说。
开展前,肖全拿起毛笔沾上白色的颜料,在红色的墙壁上写下,“一个摄影师给另一个摄影师”。
让精彩瞬间定格在永恒的时光里
这次展览的海报,封面是杭州作家余华。
照片上,余华站在雪中的团结湖车站前,黑色大衣与头发上沾着些许刚掉落的雪花。“我们这一代”的展厅中,20世纪80年代的文化精英们,都定格在了最昂扬的瞬间。
还未发胖的窦唯,穿着T恤西装歪着头,不顾一切的模样。崔健站在一幢废弃的建筑前,侧身双手插进裤兜,眼神坚定。顾城坐在窗前凝视,妻子俯身站在后面满眼笑意。三毛赤着脚,放下布包坐在路边,望向远方……
年輕的肖全闯入这人群,试图抓住那个年代。
如今,窦唯淡出了歌坛,人们偶尔见他穿着邋遢地出现在地铁车站。崔健难得出来亮个相,大部分时间留给暗地里的自己。诗人们似乎退出了整个时代,悄无声息。
展览前,肖全从家乡成都飞到杭州,带了一个行李箱,里面装着他保存了30多年的记忆,有马克·吕布、布列松给他的书、信、明信片,也有顾城、崔健写给他的信……
马克·吕布在信中跟肖全打趣说:“学习一门语言最好的办法,就是找这个国家的女朋友。”顾城在信中告诉肖全:“死亡是没有的,我已在生命中行走千次。”崔健只短短说了几个字便匆匆告别:“不着急!握手!再见!”
关于他们那一代,北岛曾写道,“那时我们有梦,关于文学,关于爱情,关于穿越世界的旅行。”肖全的确做到了,将他们那一代的梦、他们的理想与爱情,定格在永恒的时光里。
如今,肖全依旧在拍人像,但视角转向了普通人。他剪掉了长发,笑起来眼角叠起数道褶子,举止温和而周到。此次展览中,出现了不少普通人的身影。他们的照片被放大到整面墙,正面冲着镜头,每一个毛孔与微小的神色都十分清晰。
影像中的人如此庄严地面对现实生活,却又似乎超脱于生活之外。也许,镜头此刻展现的,正是如今肖全心里的哲学。一代接着一代,如潮水般涌来。我们无法阻止时光变幻,也不必执着于逝去的年代,倒不如静下心来好好打量当下。
From December 21, 2016 to January 8, 2017, Xiao Quan, arguably Chinas best portrait photographer, held a solo exhibition at Zhejiang Art Museum in Hangzhou. Born in 1959, Xiao has photographed quite a few people including celebrities and ordinary people across the country. His photograph shows are frequently called Our Generation. But this time in Hangzhou, he named it Xiao Quan Portrait Photos. He meant to express his gratitude to Hangzhou, where his career as a portrait photographer took off in 1983.
He came to Hangzhou to relax and unwind himself in a lakeside hospital where he met Huang Shaofen and Xu Chuchu from Shanghai. Huang was a cameraman who had filmed quite a few good films and Xu was the director of Shanghai Film Studio. Xiao took photos of the two celebrities and talked with them. The encounter with the two inspired the young photographer. During his one-month stay in Hangzhou, he wandered through the city and around the West Lake and took portrait photos. One section of the exhibition was dedicated to his memory of Hangzhou. The eleven photos in this section were part of the photos he had taken in 1983.
One photo showed four girls sitting on the ground and laughing toward the camera. Xiao Quan remembered that moment of an early spring morning in 1983. He spotted the four little girls happily putting tadpoles and little fish into a cup and laughing in sunshine. He snapped the shutter. He wrote down the names of the girls and gave them his address in Beijing. The girls wrote to him. But the correspondence didnt continue. He was never able to send them the photograph. On the launching day of the exhibition, he stood in front of the enlarged photo and related the encounter 33 years before. He wondered how the four girls were now.
One afternoon a few days later, four women came to the exhibition. They walked up to the photo and they laughed and hugged. The four posed for a picture in front of the old photo in honor of the day 33 years before.
One part of the exhibition was dedicated to Mark Riboud (1923-2016), a French photographer who was the first European photographer who traveled and photographed widely in China after 1949. He visited China 22 times. In the early 1993, Mark Riboud wanted to have a Chinese photographer as his assistant in his new visit to China. Xiao recommended himself promptly and began a crash course in the English language and greedily devoured books upon Mark Riboud and other western photographers. He got the job and thus began his 20-some-year friendship with the French photographer. After the journey, the two photographers kept in touch through correspondence. In the summer of 2009, Xiao Quan traveled by train from Venice to Paris and visited Mark Riboud. They met for the last time in 2013.
On the wall painted red in the section dedicated to the French was a brief phrase: “From one photographer to another” in white paint handwritten by Xiao Quan.
The photos of the cultural heroes of the 1980s were an eye-catching part of the exhibition. The photographic records constituted a hall of fame of the 1980s. In these photos, the heroes and legends and heartthrobs looked incredibly young and different from what they look like today. Xiao Quan photographed them in the 1980s and created a phenomenal record of the cultural renaissance China was witnessing after the decades of wars and political turbulences that had rocked the country. Some of these legends have long since faded out or rarely seen in the public.
The exhibition also displayed Xiaos new perspective. One part of the exhibition was dedicated to his new interest. In this section, the photos of nameless ordinary people were displayed. Some were enlarged to incredibly large sizes that covered the whole wall. You could even count the pores on their faces. They looked dignified in real life. This part of the exhibition might reveal part of Xiaos philosophy: generations come and go and he doesnt need to get trapped in one specific generation; he just loves focusing upon the people of the here and the now.