Xiao Quan, male, born in 1959 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, was a former photojournalist for Shenzhen Street Magazine and was known as "China's best portrait photographer". In the mid-1980s, he began to shoot "Our Generation", published the "Bird of Paradise" Sanmao photography album in 1991, held a solo exhibition in Switzerland in 1992, participated in a group photography exhibition in France in 1993, and published "Our Generation" in 1996. In 2000, he published Beautiful Women in My Lens.
Gong Li November 1994 Suzhou
Maybe you haven't heard of his name, and you will also have doubts and disdain for "China's best portrait photographer". It doesn't matter, I'll take you to meet him today.
Xiao Quan originally decided to specialize in portrait photography because he saw a photograph of the American poet Pound in the magazine "Xiang Miao" founded by the poet Zhong Ming.
In the photo, the dying Pound stands on a stone bridge with a cane, and the ancient town of Venice is set in the background. He looked solemn and his eyes were like a torch. The photo is accompanied by a passage from his later years: "The understanding came too late." Everything was so hard, so futile, I stopped working, I didn't want to do anything. ”
Deep, complex, solitary – Pound's typical intellectual image has a sense of history. This photograph had a decisive influence on Xiao Quan, which made the latter deeply moved: "I think Chinese literary artists should have pictures like Pound. This idea arose in less than ten seconds, but Xiao Quan spent nearly ten years to complete.
Yang Liping improvised dancing between clouds on the side of the mountain, opposite the mountain belonging to Myanmar in January 1996, Yunnan Ximeng
Xiao Quan's popularity inside and outside the photography circle was initially based on the large-scale photo album "Our Generation", which was published in 1996 and contained almost all kinds of well-known figures in the literary and art circles in the 1980s and 1990s, including Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Jiang Wen, He Xuntian, Tan Dun, Beidao, Wang Anyi, Shi Tiesheng, Chen Cun, Cui Jian and others. In order to shoot this album, Xiao Quan traveled south and north, and it took nearly 10 years to complete. Xiao Quan has also gained the reputation of "China's best portrait photographer".
Zhang Yimou Film Director December 1994 Suzhou
At that time, it was his friend Lü Peng who put together 1,000 yuan to help Xiao Quan's shooting career, let him go from Chengdu to Wuhan, from Wuhan to Changsha, from Changsha to Nanjing, Shanghai, Beijing, and the last stop to Xi'an, chasing Jia Pingwo... After running 7 cities, the 1,000 yuan that Lü Peng gave to Xiao Quan had not yet been used up, and he still kept those train tickets.
Lu Yimin Wang Yin Poet Shanghai, August 1991
After experiencing trains crowded with strangers, lonely inns, crowded cars, rough food, and searching and waiting, the poet Zhong Ming described Xiao Quan as "like a little elf, unconsciously infiltrating the hidden world of those lonely people."
Easy to know, singing actress, a very eye-catching woman in the Chengdu art circle in the 80s. Yi Zhinan sat in the piano room, holding an ashtray and leaning on the piano, after putting on makeup, slowly smoking, and on the wall hung a replica of Chen Yifei's oil painting. She thinks about her life: she has to earn money by making TV dramas to support her husband who is studying at the Beijing Dance Academy... Gradually, her eyes filled with tears. Excerpted from Xiao Quan's memories when it was easy to know when he was shooting.
"Go, go upstairs and have a look," he said. I filled my camera with 'bullets' and we practiced upstairs, getting mad the more we shot. Jiang Wen said, Xiao Quan, you go downstairs, and I stand on the edge of the eaves. On the road, I looked at this kid with a 210 mm telephoto, I mobilized him back and forth, Jiang Wen was very cooperative, and we both survived. ”
Poet index finger (Guo Lusheng). In the turbulent years, his poems have saved many young people who have gone to the countryside and made countless troubled lives "believe in the future". The index finger is a poet who cannot be avoided in the seventies, but "The Seventies" has missed him, which cannot but be said to be a major regret of this book. In 2001, the long-vacant People's Literature Prize for Poetry was awarded to two people, one with an index finger, the other Haizi, who had lived in a mental hospital for more than a decade, and the latter who had committed suicide in 1989. And they wrote poetry more than 20 years ago.
"Cui Jian and Wang Xiaojing went to the TV station with me to record the video, and at the entrance of the TV station, I saw a bunch of old walls and TV V characters, which were wonderfully combined, so I asked Old Cui to get out of the car and take pictures. Cui Jian thought about it and got out of the car. I picked up the camera and pressed 21 sheets, and Old Cui kept changing his body posture. A minute later, I had a few good pictures in my mind. ”
Dance artist, Yang Liping. "For 15 years, I've been shooting non-stop, watching peacocks get old. From the bottom of my heart, I also feel particularly cruel. I will definitely continue to shoot, I am so good friends with her, I must wait until I become an old man, she becomes an old lady, and then publish another book, and she agrees. By then, she may not have danced anymore, it doesn't matter, even if she is basking in the sun in Dali, she is too old to be good, she is still Yang Liping!"
Yang Lele. At that time, she had not yet gone to Hunan Satellite TV, and of course she did not know Wang Han, who was Xiao Quan's girlfriend at that time.
Poet, Zhai Yongming. Xiao Quan explained that Xiao Zhai's appearance is very weak, but her heart is strong, she insists on herself, and has never given up her pursuit of art, "20 years later, it is still like this." ”
To this day, she is still the 'dream lover' of many men, she is independent, her thoughts, her persistence as a person, among the women in China today, she is still one of my respects. ”
In 1990, Sanmao came to Chengdu, and Xiao Quan found Sanmao to take a picture of her. The two men were wandering around Chengdu, and Xiao Quan took this photo while drinking tea at a tea house. The photo was a miracle: the heroine was leaning cross-legged on a bamboo chair in the teahouse, her face smiling like a flower; they came out of the teahouse, there was a family member with the door closed, the bamboo chair was locked on the door, and the heroine did not move it; she pulled out her shoes and sat barefoot on the ground next to the bamboo chair, her eyes looking out of the camera. After this cooperation, Xiao Quan and Sanmao became good friends. On January 5, 1991, Sanmao committed suicide in Taiwan, Xiao Quan wanted to attend her funeral, and his wife comforted him: "Sanmao has no funeral, only birthday."
At that time, Xiao Quan gave this photo to Sanmao, and she said: "Xiao Quan, this is not complete, but perfect. Do you know? I was in my teens and twenties with short hair and backpacks all over the world, and more than ten years later, I was still alone. You see, what a stubborn woman this is..."
Rock singer He Yong, together with Dou Wei and Zhang Chu, is known as the Magic Rock Sanjie. It can be said that his "Pretty Girl" is extremely lonely: "Get a girlfriend, or get a dog." Think of the concert of 94 Magic Rock Sanjie in Hung Hom, Hong Kong, which shocked the whole of Hong Kong. Almost everyone thought that the era of Chinese rock and roll had come. Today, the magic rock sanjie has long been away from music.
Tang Dynasty Band, in the 80s, in a dilapidated courtyard they wrote "Dream Back to the Tang Dynasty".
In 1986, Yang Liping's solo dance "Spirit of the Sparrow" won the first prize in the Creation of the Second National Dance Competition and the first place in the performance. Someone asked her: Why did you win the prize? She blurted out: "Because I have no opponent!" This, perhaps, is the pride that artists need.
At that time, Kaige's mood was very complicated, and there were various legends about him in the outside world. In conversation I knew he was a very lonely director. The moment he paid attention to my shot, I clearly felt that the person standing at the other end of my shot was a cultured and humble artist, otherwise he would not have such an expression. ”
At that time, Dou Wei's black panther was still there, and Faye Wong had not yet changed her name to Wang Jingwen to work in Hong Kong. Seeing him at that time, you will understand why Faye Wong loved him to death and live.
Under Xiao Quan's images, they are real, plain and simple. These people, today, if you deify them, I believe, they themselves will feel ashamed. And you will be even more ashamed. More importantly, Xiao Quan's shooting method is also equally simple and simple. His philosophy should be to restore life. What he seeks is to return to the life of his subjects. In Beijing, he can accompany Yang Liping to see a play. In Shanghai, he can accompany Wang Anyi to buy vegetables, and he can also accompany Gong Li to go shopping and buy clothes. In order to shoot the residual snow, Xiao Quan accompanied her to the market to buy vegetables, and then chose vegetables in the kitchen, and even handed her the camera to let her photograph herself in turn.
Yang Liping filming the movie "Sunbird" in December 1995, Yunnan Ximeng
Looking at Xiao Quan's works, the most intuitive feeling is "gentle". The black and white tones seem to be wrapped in the pulp of the years, and there is a sense of timelessness. Behind the camera, Xiao Quan's gaze is like a gentle ray of sunlight gently passing through the life of a generation. He is a member of this generation, participating in and witnessing the history of this generation. With concern for the fate of his contemporaries and a love for people themselves, Xiao Quan used his camera to take a warm portrait of each interviewee.
He Xuntian Composer Zhu Zheqin Musician Chengdu 1994
In 1996, Xiao Quan published his masterpiece "Our Generation". Nearly 20 years later, Artron, which has always been unique in art books, has once again discovered the cultural value of this book, and with the rigorous and meticulous attitude of "being a bookmaker", it has carefully produced and launched the perfect commemorative edition of "Our Generation" in 2016.
Li Baotian Performing Artist August 1991 Beijing
In the republishment, Xiao said that he would not remake more than 200 celebrities in the book in 20 years. "Why should I cling to that phase?" How can youth be permanent, and life is changing every moment. Fortunately, 20 years ago, I left a glorious image for them and for myself. At this moment, the vast majority of us are growing old naturally and proudly..."
Chen Danqing Artist October 1995 Nanjing
Many people say that whoever Xiao Quan takes is the best photo of who is in his life, which can make you "different from anyone within 10 kilometers of the surrounding area." Such praise made Xiao Quan have a strong sense of mission when he was young - more people were waiting for him to shoot, "I can't become an old man who can't carry a machine."
Cui Jian outside the rehearsal hall in 1992, Beijing
Since 2012, Xiao Quan has begun to focus on ordinary people. That year, he was approached by a United Nations pro bono project, "The Future We Expect – 2032." 2032 is a documentary short film featuring 32 ordinary people from all over China walking up to the cameras and talking about their expectations for 20 years. The director at the time, Du Jiayi, found Xiao Quan and invited him to shoot portraits of ordinary people who participated in the short film.
This matter was very difficult at the beginning, and the most worrying thing for everyone was how to find people who were willing to take pictures. At that time, the assistant director of the short film simply took the certificate issued by the United Nations as a prop and went to the street to find someone. But no one believed us at all, and they all thought we were liars. Later, slowly some bold people said yes, and this matter was spread. At that time, I also told everyone on Weibo that I opened a photo studio in Beijing and invited everyone to take pictures. "The matter of taking pictures of ordinary people has begun so dramatically.
The film was taken in an old factory building in Beijing's Seven Trees Creative Park. A makeshift shack, separated by a large black cloth, was recording videos and taking portraits. "More than 200 ordinary people were photographed in 5 days, from morning to 11 p.m. There are all kinds of people, college students, Tibetans, Yi, Hui, and a group of disabled song and dance troupes. After the shooting, Xiao Quan was very emotional, "I think those few days, like African women putting food on their heads, to pay homage to those people you will meet." I haven't lived before, but they have a relationship with you and come to the camera. To know them, to get to know them, and in that space, to leave them with the image of that moment, there are many people in there that I may never forget. Their experiences, their stories, and even the look in their eyes remain in our minds. ”
After that, people kept finding him. In 2015, Xiao Quan again focused his lens on ordinary people in Kunming's Lingguang Street and created "Portrait of the Times"; at the end of October 2016, Xiao Quan went to Nanchang to take pictures of his partners in Hongdu Zhonghang City, and in December, he photographed locals in Jinchuan, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan; at the end of April 2017, his lens began to focus on chongqing women.
More than 300 Chongqing women were ingested into the footage, forming more than 9,000 photos... Then there is the "Portrait of the Times - Chongqing Women under Xiao Quan's Lens" photography exhibition that everyone saw at the Original Art Museum on Nanbin Road - on June 17, 2017, the famous photographer Xiao Quan's "premeditated" solo exhibition officially met with the citizens of Chongqing.
A total of 131 works were exhibited in this exhibition, of which 97 were taken by Xiao Quan and collected women from all walks of life in Chongqing. Speaking of this shooting of Chongqing women, Xiao Quan used "warm, beautiful, frank and friendly" to describe it in an interview with the Chongqing Morning News reporter.
Among them are entrepreneurs, nurses, teachers, flight attendants, yogis, politicians, SWAT officers, female peacekeepers, dancers who dedicate themselves to the arts, jazz singers who regard music as their life, disabled poets with disabilities, and even ordinary restaurant waiters... After 16 days of continuous shooting, 97 works were selected from more than 9,200 photos and displayed on the spot.
Of the more than 9,000 photos, which is Xiao Quan's favorite? At the opening ceremony that day, many guests, including journalists, wanted to ask this question. The answer given by Xiao Quan is "Little Sanmao" Liu Chang and the sculptor Li Na from Chuanmei.
In Xiao Quan's own words, these two works can be said to be "co-created and completed by me and her and God." Liu Chang, a sister born in 1988, is a freelancer who more often communicates with netizens by relying on her hand-drawn travelogues around the world. With a long hair similar to Sanmao' she told reporters, "As early as four or five years ago, there were friends and netizens who called it 'Little Sanmao'. After signing up for the shoot, Xiao Quan not only took a picture of her, but also sent the photo to the circle of friends early.
Xiao Quan said, "Even Sanmao's closest friends are very surprised, this is a new generation of Chongqing women traveling alone and using Sanmao to 'read the earth'." ”
Li Na's photo is also Xiao Quan's improvisation. "On May 8th, Liu Chang and I came to the river opposite Hongya Cave, and I saw a cement pier and thought it might be fun to let a girl play a goddess here." Subsequently, Xiao Quan saw Li Na holding a laptop in her left hand and holding an imaginary torch in her right hand in her camera frame, behind her were magical modern buildings under construction, boats on the river and light rail trains whizzing overhead. "If you look closely at the picture, there is really light in her eyes!" The energy of self-confidence filled her. Xiao Quan said half-jokingly that he thought that even if he wanted to quarrel with the host, he would insist on using these two photos to make posters for the exhibition.
The filming locations of these works include the former residence of Nanshan Sanmao, the Huangjueping Traffic Tea House, and the Dongyuan 1891 Indian Yangtze River.
In his opinion, the so-called best portrait photo is to take the appearance of the person himself. "Ordinary people don't have baggage, but that kind of energy is more interesting." I was in Kunming, patting and clapping, and the staff brought me a tramp. He was dressed in rags, on crutches, carrying a big bag, and he had no idea what it was like to take pictures. Come to us and see that we are not bad people. The expression he had facing the camera was particularly touching. ”
Dou Wei stutters fritters in Hutong, September 1993, Beijing