Taiwanese photographer Ke Xijie, born in Tainan in 1929, went to Japan in 1959 to study photography. He moved to New York in the 1960s and was one of the few Asian-American photographers to be recognized in the American commercial photography community. In 1979, he created "mental photography" with simple shape and unique style, and opened up a new minimalist photography style, conveying the literary "artistic conception" and aesthetic "texture of painting" with rare technical precision and aesthetic intuition. Ke Xijie passed away on June 5, 2020, at the age of 90.
Taiwanese photographer Ke Xijie (source network)
In 1979, Ke Xijie once again put aside the hard-won career he had built in New York, and with only one camera and two lenses, he flew to the Netherlands to begin his journey back to the basics of the world, covering North Africa, Southern Europe, Greece, Italy, Northwest China and other places. It was this time, which he called "wandering journey", that gave birth to many excellent works, such as "Waiting for Venus", "Tree and Wall", "Walking", "Curved Wall" and other masterpieces that were later recognized by both the East and the West, which not only made the biggest breakthrough in Kexijie's personal photography career, but also laid the foundation for his international photographic status.
Ke Xijie's photo collection "The Vision of the Heart"
Ke Xijie's main photographic works are in "The Vision of the Heart", although the collection is written about photographic aesthetics, which is also Mr. Ke Xijie's philosophy of life. He summed up his photographic journey, and philosophical subtitles such as "Go Your Own Way", "Read a lot", "Don't waste time looking at things that are not good", "Humanism behind the lens", "Love for the photographer" abound, reflecting his life values. In "The Vision of the Heart", the photography experience and growth process of the master photographer Ke Xijie are recorded, and at the same time, it highlights Ke Xijie's incomparable love for nature and profound humanistic heritage. So, a real photographer is an artist, but also a philosopher. Reading Ke Xijie's beautiful, concise and boundless photos, I feel the philosophy of life.
In the accompanying text of "Waiting for Venus", the photographer wrote:
Waiting for Venus, 1979 Greece
When I left Italy, I had a good fortune and raised enough money for my trip to Greece at the casino. But I didn't know that I was about to encounter a scene in Greece that would affect my life.
It was the Aegean Sea in summer, and I lingered for more than twenty minutes between the sea, the sky and the white walls. I knew there was something I wanted, but the shutter couldn't hold on. I had to go around the neighborhood, look at the sea, and sit there for a few minutes. Finally I went back and pressed the shutter.
Usually we can see it from the window of the camera, it is just a small image, but when we zoom in through the slide projector, it is an excellent work or an average level at a glance. When I came back and looked at this enlarged photo, I knew that I had broken through myself, the picture was so innocent and clean, there was nothing superfluous. Even now, I don't think there is a single work that can surpass this one. (But this photograph from the "negative" shoulder "work", but it has gone through more than a decade.) Because limited by the processing techniques of the time, the five red lines on the windows in the photo, the details on the walls, and the layers of the sea and sky, it was never clearly presented, and even with the transfection method, it was still much more difficult than "Trees and Walls". It wasn't until 1995 that I finally developed the perfect photo in my mind. ）
Later, the poet Zheng Chou Yu listened to the story of this photo, and he said: "Ah, the Aegean Sea is where Venus appears, and you are waiting for Venus." ”
In the accompanying text of "Line", the photographer wrote:
"Line" 1979 Tunisia
It was a small village in Tunisia, and on the way to the Sahara, I suddenly saw this woman in the car, riding a donkey, the wind was fierce, and her white clothes were bulging. For some reason, when I saw her, it was as if I saw myself, like the only lonely existence in this universe, and after a few seconds I didn't know where she would quietly disappear.
As soon as my car stopped, I immediately reflexively grabbed the telescopic lens of the back seat of the car, and before I could roll down the window, the tripod pressed the shutter. By the time I ran out of the car to take a few more shots, the donkey-riding woman had gone far away, disappearing at the end of the horizon. However, the sound of the wind has never died, and for decades, whenever I look at this photo, I can still vaguely hear the faint, windy sound in my ears, gently telling the wandering heart of the past.
There are many photographic works of Ko Xijie in "Vision of the Heart" that I liked as soon as I saw them, such as "Don Quixote is Gone", "Old Grandmother Maria", "Two Branches", "Portuguese House", "Blue and Yellow", "The Yellow Shirt", "Minoan Church", "Sanmao" and so on.
Don Quixote is Gone, 1979 Spain
"Old Grandmother Maria" 1979 Portugal
"Two Branches" 1979 Spain
Portuguese House, 1979 Portugal
"Blue and Yellow" 1989 Taiwan, China
The Yellow Shirt, 1983, New Jersey, USA
Minoan Church, 1979 Greece
"Sanmao" 1980 Taiwan, China
In Ke Xijie's photography collection "Vision of the Heart", the photographer Ke Xijie's photography experience and growth process are recorded, and at the same time, it highlights Ke Xijie's incomparable love for nature and profound humanistic heritage. Most photographic works are objects and contents that I have not touched, and I can only watch what the photographer shoots, and I believe in what the photographer writes.
However, in "The Vision of the Heart", there is a photo of the Yuanyang rice terraces "Clouds Rise South", which I have some say. In 2005, 76-year-old Ke Xijie only saw the Yuanyang rice terraces in Yunnan for the first time in 2005, which had existed for more than 1,300 years, and at this time it was already a photographer's "wind candle old age", and in his youth, those overflowing talents were "wasted" in wandering, in the collection he wrote:
Yunqi South, 2005, Yunnan, China
When I first saw it, I thought, this place is so beautiful! How can there be such a place in the world, with so many levels from top to bottom! With each move, those beautiful lines change the rhythm, so a large area, in the clouds, as if an otherworldly fairy is about to appear. If someone told me this was a wonderland, how could I doubt it.
The Yuanyang Rice Terraces, located in southern Yunnan, are a World Natural Heritage Site designated by the United Nations. Everyone who came here for sightseeing, like me, thought it was beautiful and kept pressing the shutter. Because nature itself is so beautiful, whether you have a digital camera or a traditional camera, it is easy to take a lot of beautiful photos. However, without camera eye, we are actually very blind in the face of the beauty of nature. We have to look with another eye to get "our own" photo.
So I don't choose that kind of typical beautiful photo for my work, taking pictures is not for me to be realistic, I want to show the unique beauty of its lines. Of course, many people take photos that also have the interest of lines, but when they are deliberately "beautiful", there is no room for the viewer's imagination, and the artistry will be much reduced.
I took hundreds of photos here, some of which I waited until the clouds overflowed, obscuring most of the space, and the rich layers loomed in the clouds before pressing the shutter. There is no such thing as the beauty of the terraces, but there is something pictorial and spiritual that expresses the energy of the earth and nature.
So even though I am a master photographer, I also think that Ke Xijie did not take all the beauty of the Yuanyang Rice Terraces, and it is not possible to represent the Yuanyang Rice Terraces in one or two photos, I am very curious about what the other hundreds of photos taken by Ke Xijie's photographer look like, but unfortunately I can't see it and there is no place to check.
At 22:00 on January 9 and 10, 2023, the documentary "Honghe Hani Rice Terraces" of "Human Memory - China's World Heritage Site", directed by the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee, coordinated by the Central Radio and Television General Station, produced by the Propaganda Department of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the CPC and co-produced by the Propaganda Department of the Honghe Prefecture Committee of the CPC, made a stunning appearance on CCTV4 Chinese international channel. In the documentary "Honghe Hani Rice Terraces" of "Human Memory – World Heritage in China", the spectacular rice terraces are mostly viewed from the air, because the convenience of drones and aerial photography equipment has now become the main tool for the funded team. I have been to the Yuanyang Rice Terraces five times, and photography enthusiasts like me can only take pictures of the Yuanyang Rice Terraces from the ground, and because aerial photos are the main object of my work, I face it every day at work, and I am still a little "bored", so I like to find some fun on the ground!
CCTV documentary screenshot (source network)
CCTV documentary screenshot (source network)
CCTV documentary screenshot (source network)
Located in the southern part of Ailao Mountain in Yuanyang County, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, the Yuanyang Rice Terraces are a masterpiece left by the Hani people for generations. On June 22, 2013, at the 37th session of the World Heritage Conference, the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces were successfully inscribed on the World Heritage List, becoming the 45th World Heritage Site in China. The three largest and most concentrated areas of the Yuanyang Rice Terraces are Laohuzui, Ba Da and Duoyi Tree.
Beautiful view of Yuanyang rice terraces
Beautiful view of Yuanyang rice terraces
Beautiful view of Yuanyang rice terraces
Beautiful view of Yuanyang rice terraces
Beautiful view of Yuanyang rice terraces
Beautiful view of Yuanyang rice terraces
For more than 1,300 years, the Hani people have "polished" and carefully "carved" the Hani rice terraces in nature with their hands, which is an unparalleled land art, and its lines, rhythms and rhythms are all imbued with the beauty of humanity and nature. Verdant and green, golden garden, this is only its appearance, the ecological wisdom it has passed down is the indelible memory of mankind, and it is the precious cultural heritage belonging to the Chinese nation, an agricultural nation.
Beautiful view of Yuanyang rice terraces
Beautiful view of Yuanyang rice terraces Ajiko
Beautiful view of Yuanyang rice terraces Ajiko
Beautiful view of Yuanyang rice terraces Ajiko
Looking at Ke Xijie's photographic works, I feel very unbelonging, which is inseparable from Taiwan's awkward position. Many artists in Taiwan are talented, eating China's 5,000-year-old "grass", but the "milk" and "blood" squeezed out are only elements of Taiwan, a lonely projectile land overseas, and want to deny that they are Chinese, which can be Chinese from skin, eyes to bone marrow and soul, but they cannot be reflected in China's vast rivers and mountains. 76-year-old Ke Xijie saw for the first time that Yunnan existed for more than 1,300 years of Yuanyang rice terraces, at this time it was the photographer's "wind candle residual years", in youth, those overflowing talents were wasted in wandering, so although "Horizon of the Heart" is very beautiful in form, but the "soul" is not very "authentic", which is also the sadness of many Taiwanese artists, the times! In today's words, leaving the platform, you are nothing!
When writing about the photographic work "Tolerance" in "The Vision of the Heart", the photographer also wrote: Taiwan is an island, and it is innately less broad and grand. We live on this land, and we should be more inclusive. If you know how to be tolerant, the vision of the heart will be broad, and many things will come in, and what you could not experience before, you can figure it out immediately. Look at everything with your heart, let yourself not be limited by the tangible, and you will grasp the best view of the macro.
Inclusion, 1997, Taiwan, China
Anyway. "Vision of the Heart" is also a very good photography book, since I read it, in the process of photography, I have subtly borrowed the composition of the works in the collection, the subjects, etc. I grew up in Yunnan, and I didn't have many opportunities to "wander", but Yunnan almost ran all over, so most of the photos I took were from Yunnan, and the more I went to shoot, the more I felt that Yunnan is a photography paradise, and the composition of this photography paradise, on the one hand, is the special climate formed by nature to give Yunnan a special geographical location "shoulder to shoulder two oceans, facing Sanya", and then create the reputation of Yunnan "plant kingdom" and "animal kingdom". On the other hand, it is the swaying national culture and ethnic customs created by the simple, beautiful, kind and hardworking people of all ethnic groups in Yunnan for thousands of years.
"Meili Snow Mountain in Sight" 20161004 Meili Xue, Yunnan
"Green Scary Dulong River Water" 20151003 Dulong River
"Old Cow" 20151014 Yunnan Midu
Tibetan Houses in Shangri-La, 20161004 Yunnan
Tibetan Houses in Shangri-La, 20161004 Yunnan
All this in Yunnan is an endless content, "Meili Snow Mountain in Sight" has the shadow of "Waiting for Venus" on the composition, "Green Frightened Dulong River Water" is also similar to "Xing", but there is no such lonely feeling, "Old Cow" can be seen as a part of "Old Grandmother Maria", "Shangri-La's Tibetan House" was inspired by "Two Branches" and "Portuguese House", and "Fishing Net on the Edge of Fuxian Lake" is not a copy of "Tolerance"!
"Fishing Nets on the Edge of Fuxian Lake" 20191019 Yuxi, Yunnan
I love the magical homeland of Yunnan, and compared with "Vision of the Heart", although I do not have the opportunity to "wander", I also created my "soul" in "helplessness" is very "authentic"! These are my luckier places than Taiwanese photographers!