米奧
2016年與2017年交匯之際,那個被譽為“中國最好的人像攝影師”——肖全,又來到西子湖畔。與三十多年前、拿著相機走在杭城大街上漫無目的地“掃街”不同,此次他帶來了自己的攝影展。
展覽中最引人注目的,依舊是那組上世紀八九十年代文藝圈中的名人肖像。余華、崔健、竇唯、三毛、顧城……當這些原本難以觸及的“熟人面孔”,如今以十分陌生又極其自然的狀態(tài)出現(xiàn)在我們眼前,我們終于明白,他們曾經(jīng)有過的渴望、失落以及對命運的抗爭,每一個人都經(jīng)歷過,或者正在學習如何更好地與它相處。
杭州,肖全人像攝影的起點
杭州,是肖全人像攝影開始的地方。
肖全在杭州的此次影展,沒有秉持以往在其他城市的一貫風格。他在原本計劃中的“我們這一代”的巡展中,首次展出了30多年來的肖像作品集,將影展取名為“肖全肖像攝影作品展”。肖全說,藉此代表他對杭州的感恩。在浙江美術館觀看展出的人們,有幸窺得他這段重要的人生軌跡。
20世紀80年代肖全在北京當兵,那時他已經(jīng)開始對“光影”著迷。他訂了很多攝影雜志,隨身帶著一臺海鷗牌照相機,捕捉他眼里的光景。1983年,肖全來到杭州,在部隊療養(yǎng)院療養(yǎng)。他遇到了兩位前輩——新中國第一部體育題材彩色故事片《女籃5號》的攝影黃紹芬、上海電影制片廠的老廠長徐桑楚。兩位老人便成了他的拍攝對象。
從此,他手中的鏡頭開始對準人像,并生出獨特的感觸。短短一個月間,肖全背著相機,在玉皇山路、南山路上,走走停停。肖全鏡頭下上世紀80年代的杭州,有池塘邊浣洗衣裳的大姐、有大樹下的磨剪刀人,也有長凳上想著心事的年輕人。走進展廳看到的第一部分,展示的11張照片便是這個時間段拍攝的。
其中一張四人肖像照,感染力極強。黑白畫面中,四個衣著樸素的小女孩正坐在地上,對著鏡頭笑得東倒西歪。即便已經(jīng)過去30多年,肖全依舊記得那天拍照的情形。
那是初春的一個下午,陽光正好,肖全像往常一樣出來閑逛。走到一個小池塘前,發(fā)現(xiàn)坐在旁邊的四個小女孩。她們正快樂地將抓起來的小蝌蚪和小魚倒進水杯里。暖陽下,無憂無慮的笑聲撥動著心弦,肖全趕緊拿起相機,按下了快門。他還認真抄下了每個人的名字,將自己在北京部隊的地址留給她們。
小姑娘們曾寫信給肖全,但后來通信斷了。肖全在這張照片后面寫上了四個女孩的名字,取名為《被照上了》,但可惜一直沒寄出去。2016年12月21日,展覽開幕當天,肖全站在放大了的這張照片前面,當年的情景再次涌現(xiàn)。肖全現(xiàn)場自拍了一段視頻,講述了33年前的故事。他想知道她們的現(xiàn)狀,她們這些年過得好不好。
幾天后的下午,四個女人來到展廳,走到照片前,抱著笑成一團。肖全看到這一幕,感嘆時光倒流,自嘲著自己都有皺紋了。肖全興奮地打開旁邊的陳列柜,找出了那臺海鷗205,當初他就是用這臺相機拍的。此刻,各自擁有不同故事的四姐妹,在33年前的照片前再次留下合影。時光,在這一刻重疊,這便是光影的魔力。
跟著馬克·呂布拍中國
展廳中有一片墻壁被刷成了耀眼的紅色,那是肖全用紅色紀念他的導師、已故的著名攝影師馬克·呂布。
法國攝影家馬克·呂布,是20世紀50年代首位獲準進入中國拍攝的西方攝影師。從1957年開始,馬克·呂布先后22次訪問中國,記錄了中國半個世紀的巨變。在中國,他留下了包括中國領導人毛澤東、周恩來以及越南領導人胡志明的肖像在內(nèi)的諸多經(jīng)典照片。
1993年初,馬克·呂布又將來中國前,希望找一位攝影師作為助手。肖全得知這個消息,毫不猶豫地推薦了自己。接著便開始惡補英語,大量翻閱馬克·呂布和西方攝影師的書籍。不久后,肖全如愿以償。他一路追隨馬克·呂布拍攝中國,與馬克·呂布開始了長達20多年的友誼。
在他的眼中,馬克·呂布不僅是神話般的傳奇人物,也是言傳身教的好導師。肖全帶著馬克·呂布去了人流洶涌的廣州火車站,把鏡頭對準潮水般擁擠的購票人群。他們又去了電器城。
馬克·呂布相機從不離身。有天傍晚收工,肖全說,終于可以把照相機裝進攝影包里了。馬克·呂布一臉嚴肅地說,“如果在餐廳里碰上了鄧小平,我看你拍不拍?!?/p>
肖全曾帶著馬克·呂布在上海串走弄堂。有一次,馬克·呂布見到一個老太太正在生煤球爐,剛剛舉起相機就被發(fā)現(xiàn)了,老太太操起手上的火鉗邊罵邊追著他跑。事后,他們?yōu)闆]有拍下這個生動的場面后悔無比。在中國拍照遇到麻煩不能脫身時,馬克·呂布有自己的招數(shù)。他會從錢包里取出他拍攝的周恩來豎起兩個指頭的著名照片當作“通行證”,屢試不爽。
馬克·呂布告訴肖全:“你一定要去巴黎,到時候我給你帶路。”多年來,他們的聯(lián)系一直未斷。去巴黎、與馬克·呂布一起攝影,成了肖全心里長久以來的愿望。終于,2009年的夏天,肖全從威尼斯坐了一天的火車來到巴黎。馬克·呂布很快記起一同在中國工作的日子。他高興地拿起玩具相機,給肖全拍照。
他倆最后一次見面在2013年。肖全正在巴黎旅行,得知馬克·呂布的身體狀況不好。肖全爬上埃菲爾鐵塔,在馬克·呂布當年拍攝成名作《油漆工》的位置,拍攝了日落中的鐵塔,向馬克·呂布致敬。第二天,他去見了馬克·呂布最后一面。
2016年8月30日,馬克·呂布于巴黎因病去世,享年93歲?!拔視耨R克·呂布一樣,一直拍到走不動為止。”肖全說。
開展前,肖全拿起毛筆沾上白色的顏料,在紅色的墻壁上寫下,“一個攝影師給另一個攝影師”。
讓精彩瞬間定格在永恒的時光里
這次展覽的海報,封面是杭州作家余華。
照片上,余華站在雪中的團結湖車站前,黑色大衣與頭發(fā)上沾著些許剛掉落的雪花?!拔覀冞@一代”的展廳中,20世紀80年代的文化精英們,都定格在了最昂揚的瞬間。
還未發(fā)胖的竇唯,穿著T恤西裝歪著頭,不顧一切的模樣。崔健站在一幢廢棄的建筑前,側身雙手插進褲兜,眼神堅定。顧城坐在窗前凝視,妻子俯身站在后面滿眼笑意。三毛赤著腳,放下布包坐在路邊,望向遠方……
年輕的肖全闖入這人群,試圖抓住那個年代。
如今,竇唯淡出了歌壇,人們偶爾見他穿著邋遢地出現(xiàn)在地鐵車站。崔健難得出來亮個相,大部分時間留給暗地里的自己。詩人們似乎退出了整個時代,悄無聲息。
展覽前,肖全從家鄉(xiāng)成都飛到杭州,帶了一個行李箱,里面裝著他保存了30多年的記憶,有馬克·呂布、布列松給他的書、信、明信片,也有顧城、崔健寫給他的信……
馬克·呂布在信中跟肖全打趣說:“學習一門語言最好的辦法,就是找這個國家的女朋友?!鳖櫝窃谛胖懈嬖V肖全:“死亡是沒有的,我已在生命中行走千次?!贝藿≈欢潭陶f了幾個字便匆匆告別:“不著急!握手!再見!”
關于他們那一代,北島曾寫道,“那時我們有夢,關于文學,關于愛情,關于穿越世界的旅行?!毙と拇_做到了,將他們那一代的夢、他們的理想與愛情,定格在永恒的時光里。
如今,肖全依舊在拍人像,但視角轉向了普通人。他剪掉了長發(fā),笑起來眼角疊起數(shù)道褶子,舉止溫和而周到。此次展覽中,出現(xiàn)了不少普通人的身影。他們的照片被放大到整面墻,正面沖著鏡頭,每一個毛孔與微小的神色都十分清晰。
影像中的人如此莊嚴地面對現(xiàn)實生活,卻又似乎超脫于生活之外。也許,鏡頭此刻展現(xiàn)的,正是如今肖全心里的哲學。一代接著一代,如潮水般涌來。我們無法阻止時光變幻,也不必執(zhí)著于逝去的年代,倒不如靜下心來好好打量當下。
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.