Interview with Yan Ming's Southern People Weekly

In the past five or six years, every time I see Yan Yan, I always wear a suit from the south: a black T-shirt, pants just above my knees, a pair of "hole shoes" kicking around, and a Lulai double-reverse camera often stuffed in my sports bag. Over the years, I have added a blues harmonica to my bag. He is attached to the north. One year when he left the north, he sat on the cliff and played farewell to the villages scattered between loess and dead wood. For five or six years in a row, he was like a migratory bird. As soon as he had enough film and money, he flew north and landed in those nameless rural wilderness, where he quietly waited for the meaning of death-"so many beautiful meanings are scattered all over the place, and when I feel it, I will always transport my heart again and again." Uncle, Minnie after work, miss pig in the tree, monkey in Kuimen, horse peeing ... fantastic, sad and rigorous gray humor are mixed in the picture, and these magical realistic pictures are combined into Macondo in his lens, which he named "Records of Great Powers". It is not suitable to take pictures when the weather is hot. Every time Yan Ming goes out to make a movie and sees a sunny day, he suddenly says, "It's glittering!" If it's a little foggy, it's the best atmosphere. As a result, the whole summer vacation became the summer vacation for him and his son. On the balcony in the summer vacation in the south, he planted morning glory and green beans, both of which were picked from the north in winter. "This allows me to see the north in spring and summer, and I can also see their seasons when I am away." This year, Yan Ming shut himself up with the plants on the balcony and ignored any phone calls from his friends. Friends began to worry about his autism. It was not until the recent publication of the 100,000-word manuscript "I love this crying romance" that my friend breathed a sigh of relief: "Yan Ming said: We are all prisoners of genes and losers of the system. In the end, we are not rivals of time. So it's only a matter of time! " Photography didn't come to Yan Ming until at least 10 years later. 10 years ago, Yan Ming was a long-haired musician in the southern rock circle. During the day, I wrote music reviews in music magazines, followed Wang Leyan to perform in bars at night, and occasionally stood on the stage to accompany Eason Chan and Lu Qiaoyin who were still newcomers at that time. All this stems from an acoustic guitar my father gave me when I was admitted to college. After graduating from college, he became a rural teacher in Huainan, Anhui Province, which was his father's long-cherished wish to be a teacher all his life. But he loves music and practices piano skills hard. In the 1990s, when there was no Internet, he quit his job as a teacher who thought he could live a stable life and traveled all over the country to learn the piano from his teachers. Do the floor in the host's house and do all the housework.

One day, he found that the music that he had studied hard for 10 years didn't care for him. Those young people who are familiar with Internet technology completed their 10 years in three or four years, and he decided to hang up his boots. Hulusi, harmonica, drum set, bass ... were packed by him and thrown on the bed. He went to the newspaper to earn money to support his family. Until his son Yan Heng grew up slowly, he turned all those things out from under the bed to play. His irresistible curiosity and talent made Yan Ming decide that he was not afraid of his son to understand music. He showed it to Yan Heng one by one. Yan Heng was also impressed by the free atmosphere at home and asked his mother, "What if one day I unfortunately have to go to work every day?" Nine-year-old Yan Heng decided that he wanted to engage in art, instead of working nine to five. Every time I go out to shoot, Yan Ming never calls him, although it takes a long time. "You can't disturb his haste and creation." After arriving home, Yan Ming called home. Yan Heng always comes downstairs to meet him with a furry round head. Yan Ming knows it's time to give his son a haircut. Chen Xue smiled: "Welcome home!" /kloc-Yan Ming was not so soft 0/0 years ago. When he was an entertainment reporter, Yan Ming was invited to attend Zhang Chu's concert in Shenzhen. At the scene, Zhang Chu was asked to sing Friends with the bar owner. Yan Ming squeezed into the stage and pointed to Zhang Chu and shouted, "You are Zhang Chu, why do you want to sing with him?" He certainly has a chance to live a decent life. Several positions with the word "general" found him, and he declined one by one: "I have my own things to finish." His theory is: "With money, everyone can understand; If you are a soul, not necessarily. People Weekly: Will your Chronicle of Great Powers be filmed all the time? Will you always be in charge of your future shooting career? From my dock to the history of great powers, do you just put yourself in a big scene? Yan Ming: In the photography industry, it is actually a difficult and powerless thing to announce the end of a "special project." "Done" is not so easy to say. I still have the desire to continue, hoping to be more complete on a certain level. From My Wharf to History of Great Powers, I first fought in rivers and lakes with the ambition of attacking the city and pulling out the village, and then tried to return to my heart and patiently observed the loss of history, culture and art that we care about and pay attention to. This is a gradual change, and it is a multi-party search for the impact point after the collision. I always think that the place where we live is full of meaning, problems are everywhere, and there is art when there are problems. The discovery and completion of artistic creation may be anytime and anywhere, and should not be framed by regions. It is necessary to listen to your heart. Our hearts should be free, and it is easy to hit the limit easily and purely. People Weekly: Before photography, you had practiced music for 10 years, but in the end, it was found that young people could make 10 years of efforts by relying on Internet technology in three or four years. Now, you insist on movies, black and white, walking ... almost the most primitive way to shoot. Are you worried that one day new technology will subvert your persistence again? Yan Ming: I do have this concern about the carrier of expression. Just like music, it is directly related to carrier media and technical skills. Every time a new production and broadcasting technology appears, it not only changes the music life of the public, but also seriously impacts the ecology of the production industry. Photography is the same, and photographers also need to think about how to deal with it in the big era. When I wrote this book, I actually opened up another way of expression. But from the creative point of view, the artist's observation and experience of the world is unchanged. No matter what kind of carrier appears, what burns on it is still our love and sigh for the world. People Weekly: You said that "taking pictures is taking pictures of yourself". Over the years, did you learn more about yourself through photography, or did you know what you wanted from the beginning? Yan Ming: Through photography, I know myself better. Leaving the traditional system, I need more time and space for action. In fact, I have devoted myself to another ecological jungle, and the problems I need to face are still the same. It's just that this is a process from "conformity" to "self-respect". When I finally found out that I could really "live my own life", I thought it was a necessity for my creation and precious. I should use this way of physical and mental coordination to reach the other side of my heart. People Weekly: How do you find the expression style that suits you best? You sweep the streets like crazy with Leica. You must have tried numbers and colors. How can we develop step by step so that people can recognize you as soon as they see your work? Yan Ming: First shoot a lot according to your own interests, and then find what you really like and are good at. What follows is the correspondence between "language" and its own concerns. This should be the so-called style, which naturally provides the audience with a degree of recognition. However, this is a question that the audience has the final say. Some people say that style is the artist's back, and he can't see it himself. People Weekly: "Love" and "making a living" are often as difficult to survive as love and marriage. For photography, if we don't do "technical work within the system", will it become "business field outside the system"? How to make people who love photography and make a living by photography survive well? Yan Ming: "Being alive" and "loving each other" should not be put together as such two close aspects. A lot of things need us to be full before we can do them. I may not be a very "alive" person, but I tried to think about what to do after a full meal. How to write a word "love" is more difficult and urgent than "living" and "things". Doing well enough is the basis for me to live well. People Weekly: Do you shoot on the way to practice enlightenment like an ascetic monk? Some people say that you are a philosophical photographer. Do you think so? Yan Ming: Not exactly. Actually, it's not that bitter. You can use the existing conditions to serve the creation as well as possible. I have always believed that photography should not be simply regarded as "on the road". Suffering is not the end after all, and asceticism is not worth flaunting. Inner struggle is the real journey. Dostoevsky said: "I am only worried about one thing, that is, I am afraid that I do not deserve my suffering." "It is important to listen to the inner impulse and let individual life and art form achieve a free unity. There is no need for us to run an unidentified race for others at our own expense and engage in a meaningless bitter plan. Philosophical photography is really amazing. There is indeed a kind of "Tao" in many art categories. If this kind of "Tao" can be read by people and show a trace of Zen, it is really my heart's wish. People Weekly: It may be because I go out to take pictures all the year round, so I have a strong sense of wandering. Is this what you want? What is your ideal life and creative state? Yan Ming: There is indeed a sense of drift. Photographers will form a photographic thinking over the years, to accept, deal with, deal with, and strive to do their best. Generally don't expect "what should it be". Good and bad, both gifts of life and photography, need to be experienced together. As for the ideal state, I remember what I often say in my heart when I make a wish: I hope I will always keep a sensitive heart, and I hope it will not wither because of the changes of time and circumstances.