Life of mud legs

Author/Lv Baojun

I don't know how many times the car circled in the ravine, and I don't know how long it took, and finally I came to his door. This is an adobe house built in the 1950s. A crack in the wall can extend to one leg. The four earth walls are obviously tilted outward, and the roof has collapsed. The most eye-catching thing about entering the door is a photo frame hanging on the earth wall, which is full of his photographs; Around the heatable adobe sleeping platform covered with broken straw mats, the waste pieces of the debugging color of the printing shop were covered. There are various indications that the owner's hobby is inextricably linked with photography.

This is his home torn by the "5-12" earthquake. When he entered the room, he just glanced around the room, then went straight to the corner, pulled open the corn stalks piled there, and took out a small wooden box and a big round pottery jar. This kind of jar is used by Shaanxi people to hold flour. "The photos I took are all in it, don't lose them!" He mumbled as he looked at the cans and boxes. Unfortunately, the wooden box has been bitten by a mouse, and many photos in it have been destroyed. "There should be many photos and negatives, but I really don't remember where I put them." He muttered helplessly. A few days later, he dug out a small rusty paint bucket. The original photos have been kept in it. He smiled as happily as a child. "These are all very good, and the mice are not spoiled!"

No one can imagine that the cost of these photos rummaged out from old clay pots, broken wooden cases and paint buckets was all dug out from his own oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, and from his own teeth!

Photography is an art of burning money. He has been farming on the yellow land all his life, earning little, and his economic difficulties can be imagined. The only bowl in the house is used for filling medicine and developing photos. He also dug three holes in the floor of the house and laid plastic sheets for development, fixing and cleaning. Cover a paper box on the kerosene lamp, clamp the negative and photographic paper with two pieces of glass, and when the printing liquid is used up, he will use the chemical fertilizer "urea" plus experimental baking soda and vinegar to make a fixing solution; In the used developer, try to add some edible alkaline noodles to improve its development efficiency. This indigenous method was used to make money and achieved great things.

In order to live, he suffered more than the previous generation. In addition to planting a few acres of land, he also jumped out of the ravine to sell coolies, repair roads, be a porter, load and unload, watch the gate and sweep the yard during the slack season. His mantra is: "As long as you have money to buy a notebook (exercise book) for your baby, as long as you have money to buy film, whatever!" In order to buy film, he had to save it from his mouth. Dry loading and unloading takes effort, and he eats a lot. However, he only ate a bowl of noodle soup for dinner, which saved the money for a biscuit and the money for the next day's work, thus saving the money for a bowl of vegetarian noodles. Poverty has been with him, and he can't breathe! The Spring Festival that year is still fresh in the memory of the whole family. Because the second daughter spent a lot of money in the hospital for the New Year and had no money to buy meat, she used tofu vermicelli sent by relatives and neighbors for the New Year. His eldest daughter got married a few years ago, and the dowry was arranged by a friend. Every time he said this, he sighed: "Hey, look at me alive!" Somehow, it seems that an invisible hand is pressing his head and shoulders, forcing him to bend down and lead a hard and timid life.

His parents and wife have earnestly advised him, and the villagers also regard him with special respect. To this end, he has struggled, suffered, and even made up his mind not to touch photography. But after many attempts, he finally couldn't give up the camera completely. It seems that only photography can make him live with dignity and confidence. The yellow land in front of him and the people resting on this yellow land are his roots and his life! These are his parents, brothers and sisters. Their gestures and smiles often float in their minds and can't be forgotten. He wants to use the camera in his hand to freeze the joy, expectation, harvest and happiness of his hometown into eternity; Old cows, whips, wooden plows, simple folk customs, and the true state of simplicity, openness, fearlessness and hard work unique to rural farmers all want to be vividly presented through the lens.

He did it. The photography of this mud-legged man named Xie exudes a simple local flavor, without falsehood or embellishment, which fully reflects his incomparable love for the yellow land and the villagers who gave birth to him. Born in Longxian County, Shaanxi Province, Niu Langwa, influenced by educated youth, has formed an indissoluble bond with the camera and has persisted in the world of magical light and shadow for more than 40 years. The bitterness inside is beyond words. In the sixties and seventies of last century, when everyone didn't even have enough to eat, he still insisted on his hobby, which seems a bit extravagant today. The pain he endured and the happiness he brought are unimaginable to young people today!

2010 On June 5438+00, at the 10th China Pingyao International Photography Festival, among the works exhibited by 1800 photographers from 38 countries and regions in the world, Xie's series of works "Yellow Heaven and Thick Earth Creatures" was particularly eye-catching. It is a true portrayal of rural life in China for thousands of years and a historical focus of rural life before the reform and opening up. Today's city people are holding "long guns and short guns" and driving off-road vehicles to collect wind in rural areas of Shan Ye, but they are all taking pictures of farmers' "sufferings and worries"; But the farmer photographers who really live in the hinterland shoot "an upward life" and "a world of hope"! As if a stone stirred up a thousand waves, people were all moved by his superb photography level and perseverance to overcome difficulties, and they praised him one after another. An old professor of Beijing Normal University said kindly and excitedly, "This is the real photography! This is real life! This is the real northwest farmer! "

Xie is therefore called "the poorest peasant photographer in China". An old man who retired from Taiwan's education department came to Baoji and lived in Xiewan for more than half a month. When he left, he repeatedly sighed: "I have been playing with the camera for most of my life, but I have never found the feeling and perspective of Master Xie's hometown!"

Xie gave a wry smile. Embarrassed circumstances forced him to live in a low attitude, but he always looked up to life with a bright and hopeful head! This sense of superiority just reflects his simple love for life and persistent love for photography, which has nothing to do with money and fame.