These photos are all old people in the Shangluo Mountains of Shaanxi. Most of the elderly people who were photographed only have such a high-definition portrait photo in their lives.
The girl who took pictures for the old people is called Yang Xin, 39 years old this year, working as a photojournalist in a local newspaper, 7 years ago, Yang Xin set up a public welfare team, specializing in taking free photos for the elderly over 70 years old in the mountains, and has taken portraits for more than 4,000 elderly people so far. Why did Yang Xin do this? What do these photos mean to the elderly?
At around seven o'clock in the evening, Yang Xin and three volunteers were cropping and framing the photos taken some time ago. The next day, they will go to Shangmiao Village, a town in Luonan County, Shangluonan, Shaanxi Province, to send photos to the elderly.
Yang Xin: This grandma was very interesting when she took a photo, and when she showed it, she said that her teeth came out and fell out. I said you must have two tiger teeth, and she said yes. The tiger tooth is off, but it feels good to smile. I just want anyone in the village to see it, and they can get to know it immediately, without looking at it for a long time. Keep her features.
In addition to the solo photo, there are several group photos scattered among them, which is the first time Yang Xin has taken a group photo of the elderly.
Yang Xin: I was taking pictures of her at the time. This grandfather sat on a stool next to him, waiting. Then she asked me after the shoot if she could take a picture of me and the old man. I said, are you two?" she smiled, embarrassed. I asked you how many years you've been married? She thought for a moment and said, more than forty years. She is in her seventies. I said did I have a photo on the marriage certificate before? She said no, there was no photo at that time. I said I had never taken a picture in my life, right? She said she hadn't taken a picture. We agreed without hesitation.
Yang Xin: After they finished filming. The other two were going to shoot too, and we took them all. I found out that they were sisters. I said, have you done it before? She said no. Her sister said that if she took this picture, she might be the one in her life.
The years have carved too many traces of vicissitudes on the faces of these old people, but when the smile is fixed between the red background and the yellow frame, it reveals a vigorous vitality.
Yang Xin: We think that the photo left by every old man should have a little smile and a sweet face. When your children see this picture in the future, they will always think of how loving their parents felt back then.
The old people smiled and took a "smile posthumous photo"
Seeing this, you may have guessed the purpose of these photos. Yang Xin: They are actually taking "posthumous photos" for the old people in the mountains, which are called "big pictures" or "old faces" locally. For such a shooting experience, the old people are not taboo, but they value it very much.
Early the next morning, Yang Xin and the volunteers set off, and in addition to the photos, they also brought the items donated by the caring enterprises. Every time she goes to send photos, Yang Xin will post solitaire in her volunteer WeChat group, and the places are often sold out in an instant.
Yang Xin's father is also nearly 70 years old, and as long as time permits, he will follow his daughter to help. After more than two hours of driving, everyone arrived at the Shangmiao Village Committee, where many elderly people were already waiting.
Every time he sends a photo, Yang Xin will make a small exhibition, and the old people can not only get their own, but also look at other people's photos. The scene was very lively.
After looking at each other's photos and joking for a while, Yang Xin and the volunteers began to distribute them to each elderly person. According to the requirements of the public welfare project, they have to explain the source of funding for the photoshoot.
Yang Xin: We don't charge any money for this photo. It's not that it doesn't cost money, this money is donated by netizens all over the country.
The old people who got their photos looked at them carefully, and many of them smiled from ear to ear.
There are 102 elderly people over the age of 70 in Shangmiao Village. In the interview, many people do not shy away from the topic of birth, old age, sickness and death, in their opinion, when they have strength, they can prepare for the future, not only to reduce the burden on the children, but also to face death with dignity.
Yang Juhua (71 years old), Shangmiao Village, Luonan County Inspection Town: I'm not afraid, we are not afraid. Our hearts are open.
Tian Lianxiang (71 years old), Shangmiao Village, Luonan County Inspection Town: I can prepare for the future, I am ready myself, and I don't have that breath to make the baby busy again.
Zhou Dangmei (73 years old), Shangmiao Village, Luonan County Inspection Town: The tomb hoop is made, the board (coffin) is made, and the clothes are all ready. Only photos are missing.
He Jun, First Secretary of the Party Branch of Shangmiao Village, Luonan County Inspection Town: Now the elderly can also think about it, like some customs in the countryside, it seems that after the age of 65, they began to prepare the coffin, or some shrouds and the like. We also clearly told everyone what kind of photo this is, and they were very happy when they heard it, and there was no taboo, and I was still taking this photo for me.
Harvest happiness "Doing public welfare will be addictive"
From 2017 to the present, Yang Xin and his volunteers have traveled to more than 40 villages in Shangluo, taking photos of more than 4,000 elderly people. In fact, since he joined the newspaper in 2012, Yang Xin has been outside of reporting to provide help to those difficult groups he interviews. In 2014, Yang Xin donated hematopoietic stem cells as a volunteer, which gave her a stronger desire for public welfare. She began to think about how she could use her photography expertise to provide tangible help to those in need. An interview experience gave her the idea of taking "posthumous portraits" of the elderly people in the mountainous areas. And from photo shooting, printing and framing, the whole process is free of charge.
Yang Xin: I saw an old man with a white cardboard in his house, that is, a paper shell, with a white paper pasted on it, and a brush that said who and whose spiritual position, and I also asked the grandmother, this is your wife, and she said that she is the wife. It's been more than ten years since she died, and I said can you still remember what it looked like? She smiled awkwardly and shook her head. I scanned around the house and didn't see a single photo. At that time, I felt that I should go about it.
At the end of 2017, with the support of the local civil affairs department, Yang Xin and her colleagues took photos of more than 400 elderly people in a township in Shangluo.
Yang Xin: There was an old man who was holding a photo at that time, and I remember it very clearly, and told us that these babies took such a good photo for us and sent it. There is nothing to thank the baby, so I will sing a few words of Qin dialect to the baby. It was a cloudy and gray day, and we stood in the village square, watching the old man shout at us. I don't remember what he sang, but I can remember that feeling in my heart very clearly. It's really a shock. I just feel like the old people need it so much, and we did it right. It's really done right.
Li Wenbin is an old member of Yang Xin's volunteer team, and in his words, doing public welfare will be addictive.
Volunteer Li Wenbin: Before I participated in the charity, sometimes I would come back with friends, maybe I would have an appointment to drink, play cards, or go fishing. But after participating in the charity, I felt that this thing was much better than my entertainment activities. I feel very good after each activity. If you are busy for work or some reason at a certain time, and you see that everyone is there doing two or three public welfare events and you don't go, and then after a few days you feel empty in your heart, as if something is missing.
This feeling is the consensus of the volunteers. In Yang Xin's view, taking pictures of the elderly, they gain far more than they pay.
Yang Xin: You see all our volunteers doing manual work or serving the elderly, they always have a smile on their faces, why? The old man keeps praising you and thanking you, and you will suddenly feel that my life is more meaningful than those bits and pieces. I think our public welfare is like an energy station, you go to recharge it, and when you come back, you become a superman and face your life.
Let the posthumous photo become a photo without regrets
Keep shooting. The day after sending photos to the elderly people in Shangmiao Village, Yang Xin and the volunteers set off again. This time, a group of eight of them went to Yushi Village, Jingcun Town, Luonan County, which is more than 50 kilometers away from Shangluo City, to take photos of more than 100 elderly people there.
Because many old people have some ears behind their ears, every time he is on the shooting site, Yang Xin has to speak loudly in dialect.
In order to take a satisfactory photo, Yang Xin cooperated with the assistant and repeatedly adjusted the old man's clothes and sitting posture.
At the scene, there was a centenarian who was brought by his son to take pictures, and because his ID card was not with him, the old man and his son could not tell her exact age.
Liu Yulian's son: 98 is still 99. It depends on the time on the ID card. She didn't get her ID card back from the third child, so she took care of it first.
After taking the photos, the village also found out the birth date of Liu Yulian's old man.
Volunteer: This is 101 years old, from 1923.
This is the oldest old man photographed by Yang Xin so far.
At twelve o'clock at noon, more than 120 elderly people have finished shooting, just as everyone finished dismantling the shelves and preparing to eat, several elderly people came one after another, volunteers and village cadres supported the background red cloth with their hands, and Yang Xin was still enthusiastic and full of pictures for them.
Reporter: Do you feel tired in the morning?
Yang Xin: It's okay. We're basically like this every time, waiting for the old man, and we keep coming. Tired must be tired, sometimes we go back to the throat after filming, and it will be swollen. If you shout loudly with him, he can hear it, he will be happy, he will laugh. He's like a child. In fact, every old man is like a child in his heart. You tease him like a child.
People will ask me, have you ever thought about taking pictures of your parents. My dad is 69 years old, and I didn't shoot either. I'm scared, I'm really scared. So in my heart, like everyone else, there is a kind of kind escape.
I thought about them until they were about 70, 70. Give them a picture like this formally. I don't want to wait until they're really unwell and sit there with a sick face before taking pictures. I also hope that the photos of my parents who stay in our house in the future will always be smiling.
Freeze the smile and leave warmth
The first time he took a picture of the elderly, Yang Xin prepared two background colors, red and blue, and most of the old people chose a red background, and then the blue background was slowly gone. In the eyes of the elderly, taking a "big picture" is a happy event, and it is also the last major event in life. Even if you look down on life and death, you still can't let go of your concern for your children, and it is also one of the long-cherished wishes of the elderly not to cause trouble to your children after death. Yang Xin's photos permanently freeze the kind faces and kind smiles of the old people, leaving their most satisfactory images to their children and grandchildren, and to the world they have been to.
Yang Xin helped the old people fulfill their desire to take a "big picture", and the plainness and transparency of the old people also touched Yang Xin, driving her to explore the meaning of life and think about what people can leave in the end, so as to trek more and more firmly on the road of public welfare. For the sake of those who have not yet taken photos due to the scale of the project, she will continue to go deeper into the mountains in the future. We hope that there will be more like-minded people to join, and we hope that in every place, there will be more attention to the present and the surrounding people, and a record of life and dignity.
Source: CCTV news client