The Paper's reporter Gao Dan intern Dai Fangying
Wong Kar-wai, Cheung Kwok-wing, Leung Chao-wai, Maggie Cheung, Wu Yanzu... These well-known stars have left fascinating moments under the lens of photographer Xia Yongkang.
Recently, Xia Yongkang's photography exhibition "Moods Emotions" was presented in Beijing, showing more than 100 more representative videos he has created in the past 25 years. The Paper also interviewed Xia Yongkang at his exhibition site.
"The name of this exhibition is also called 'emotion', in fact, when I made stills before, I focused on the movie, saw what kind of emotions to convey in the movie and then grabbed it, and then I turned this into something I was used to." He said.
Photographer Xia Yongkang's separation from these stars began in 1997, he was invited by director Wong Kar-wai to work as a stills photographer and graphic designer for the film "Spring Breaks", and looking at these stills today, Wong Kar-wai's style is deeply permeated in these photos - the oriental mood and nostalgic atmosphere of "Fancy Years", the intensity and heat of "Spring Break", Xia Yongkang captures the atmosphere and narrative sense brought by the hovering character posture and set, and continues Wong Kar-wai's dreamlike style with black and white, colored film.
Stills from "The Wonder Years"
Stills from "Spring Breaks"
Like all creators will be asked: When did you develop your own creative style? On the one hand, the stills he is best known for are indeed strongly attached to the film, as Xia Yongkang said: "Of course, I wanted to find style at that time, but what is style?" Is the style really mine? The makeup artist is not mine, the light is not what I have done, the set is already laid by the director, and the best actors at that time, such as Liang Chaowei, are so handsome, it has nothing to do with me, and the photos are good because he himself is very good-looking. I sometimes feel like it's not my photo, it's the photo I press. That photo belongs to the superposition of many things. So a lot of times later, I felt that it didn't matter if there was a style or not. ”
But even though he always vaguely and almost cautiously says that these stills are not exactly his own work, he is also trying to find creative freedom when shooting, Xia Yongkang said that the creation of stills is "before the action after the cut": "When the actors are acting, I can't take pictures because there is sound." After Wong Kar-wai shouts the action, there should be a second to steal, and after the cut can steal two seconds, because after these few seconds, the actor will leave the original position, and the interesting thing is that in these few seconds, the actor has not yet entered the role, or has left the role, in a vague state, I like to 'steal' these states. Xia Yongkang called these uncertain moments "a question rather than an answer, and that moment has many stories and can be blank." Sometimes he also tries all kinds of angles, crooked, looking out through some gaps, finding black paper to seal a lot of places, etc., Xia Yongkang said, so that there is a sense of freshness, "work and art to keep fresh is very important." ”
Xia Yongkang's "moods emotions" photography exhibition hall
Xia Yongkang's "Moods Emotions" photography exhibition
Because of his participation in the stills of Wong Kar-wai's "2046", "Fancy Years" and "Spring Break", Xia Yongkang was labeled "Wong Kar-wai's Royal Photographer", and the next ones such as 2001 together with Shu Qi and Wu Yanzu filmed a group of youth stories about young lovers in Hong Kong, in 2004 with Maggie Cheung in Guilin, in 2010 with Zhou Xun in Beijing to record the grand situation of underground rock culture at that time... Let Xia Yongkang's name be firmly tied to the big stars, and there are endless interesting stories.
For example, when talking about Zhang Guorong again, Xia Yongkang told the surging news: "Many people's rebellion is acted out, but Zhang Guorong is really very character, very stylish, he will think that I want to grow long hair, wear a certain dress to sing this song, when we take pictures, we will feel, he thinks a lot of things are felt, wow, very avant-garde." He was a true artist. Another time I was late because I was going to take a picture of him in the water tank outdoors, and when I arrived he was already soaking in the water, and I was thinking: Finished, I will definitely be scolded. But the first thing he said when he saw me was: Look at me like a fish. ”
"You know that photos can't deceive people, Zhang Guorong, he just never gets nervous, you can shoot anything, he will stay with his own comfortable posture, he will say: 'I sleep you shoot me sleeping, I'm really tired.'" Then he really slept, he was comfortable, his heart was calm, and this would all be captured by the photograph. ”
Zhang Guorong under Xia Yongkang's lens
But talking about the current state, Xia Yongkang said: "In Hong Kong, I don't want to take pictures so much", he said frankly: "Those fashions, advertising blockbusters are just making money, things that I don't understand are fun, but now shooting actors, stars, I don't know what it is before I shoot." I've been to South America before, wow, it's so much fun, I live in a riverside forest, no wi-fi place, for a while I would shoot some worms every morning. I found it amazing that there was a butterfly that would land on my water cup every day at 4:30 and really would come at 4:30 every day. It's not easy, and I'm thinking there must be something magical that we don't notice in the big cities. ”
"Now to take photos is to play", this time to Beijing, Xia Yongkang also accepted vivo's artistic commission, with a mobile phone to take a series of photos: "I have been to Beijing countless times, but to tell the truth, because of work, usually sit in the car straight to work, I almost can not appreciate the city carefully." And this time, I was invited to slow down and carefully admire the colors, rivers and lakes, lights and shadows of Beijing, and even the city lights that pass through the branches at night, and I could observe that the people here were very forgetful in the nightclubs and live houses I had never been to. Really, the city is so romantic at night, and the young people in those live houses are well dressed and stylish. ”
Artistic creation commission series
The photographs in this art commission are very blurry and psychedelic, and they are traces of light and color. Xia Yongkang said: "I like to challenge that mobile phone, the more the mobile phone is designed to shoot very clearly, the more I shoot virtually." I also have a habit of deleting the photos I took every day when I come home, I feel that I have played it, even if I have played it, pressing the shutter is my enjoyment of that moment, not for publication, but for my enjoyment. ”
"I personally appreciate the kind of work that captures a particular moment. In this day and age, videos and GIFs are full of life, but when I see a photo, I can feel that it is frozen in a moment, a person's soul, and I will like this photography. I love this feeling of snapping more than a straightforward pose, because it captures a moment in your life that you can easily miss. But when the photographer can capture this moment, so that the viewer can see the moment, it is very meaningful. Regarding his current photography concept, Xia Yongkang said.
Dialogue | Xia Yongkang
The Paper: When talking about your photography, people will always talk about the sense of atmosphere and emotion inside, including the name of this exhibition is also called "emotion", how do you express an emotion or sense of atmosphere when photographing?
Xia Yongkang: In fact, when I was shooting stills before, I focused on the movie, and then I looked at what kind of emotions to convey in the movie and then grabbed it, and after that, I turned this into something I was used to, and I began to try very hard to capture some emotions when taking photos. But of course, there will be some assistance when shooting stills, such as lighting, and I may also be influenced by Wong Kar-wai, who has become accustomed to making his films, and is used to his emotional control methods.
The Paper: In fact, many times when we talk about photos, we talk about a "decisive moment", that is, to let a thing and a person happen naturally, and then the photographer captures this moment. But because your long-term shooting subject matter is actually to let the actors pose more, how to get a sense of freshness? Or can it be said that the posing can also appear to have a sense of story and tension?
Xia Yongkang: In the past, when filming fashion, I would think about the story, think of a script for the actors, and then the actors would show that state, so that state was actually fake, something that I made up with the actors. But a lot of models will say: I'm really not an actor, director, I really don't understand, she's just used to posing that kind of model. So I came to the studio, and I asked my assistant to take pictures, and I stole something next to me. A lot of models actually can't tell who the photographer is, she is very serious about my assistant's lens pose, I am stealing (shooting), my assistant is resting, the model will also relax, I can take a lot of photos of the feeling I want, so there are actually many ways.
The Paper: Will there be a big difference between shooting stars and shooting ordinary people?
Xia Yongkang: Actually, when I photographed Cuckoo, she was a newcomer. Models actually have a habit that they want to adjust the state of the clothes a little better, and they will put a pose out. But I think the feeling of the person is more important than the good look of the dress, there is a person'scharacter to show, the clothes also seem to have life.
Shu Qi under Xia Yongkang's lens
Cuckoo in Xia Yongkang's lens
The Paper: But there are also some photos that seem to be well presented by clothes and people, such as the stills of "Fancy Years".
Xia Yongkang: Yes, that's stills, it's different. But sometimes I think taking pictures really depends on your current mentality, I need to get myself first, my state is better, the photos are visible. Once I was in the forest, I came out and I felt very natural and comfortable, I asked the assistant, I said what to shoot tomorrow? He said a bunch of nudity. Then the pictures I took of them are very simple.
The Paper: You also talked about not wanting to take pictures in Hong Kong now, why is this happening?
Xia Yongkang: In Hong Kong, I just don't feel it, and I used to want to take pictures from the beginning, to show that I am an artist. But in fact, they are all fake, and there is not a simple purpose. My current state is as if I don't need it anymore, and what style shows to others is actually that you serve others, in order to prove yourself. Now I just want to listen and feel, and shoot when I want to shoot.
Maggie Cheung under Xia Yongkang's lens
The Paper: Maybe the public will think that the movie stills are screenshots of the movie, so how do you put your own logo in the stills, rather than just a work attached to the movie?
Xia Yongkang: The previous model was that people first saw the stills before going to the cinema to see the movie, so the stills were in the movie and you could tell the whole story by taking a few photos in the movie, which was a very useful function. Before helping Wong Kar-wai shoot a lot of stills, at the beginning it was exactly the same as what was seen in the frame, for him to serve him. After that, I started to change the angle, and I started to be greedy and got some art.
One day in Argentina when the shooting was dawn, everyone began to finish the work when the lights were not closed, I said to the lighting engineer, can you help me lay down this light? Because I thought the light would become a style, he said, very expensive, I said it's okay to try it, so I just put on the movie lighting in the studio to shoot fashion, the model does not look at the camera, shoot like a movie.
Editor-in-Charge: Lu Linhan
Proofreader: Shi Gong