Figure | Hu Liwen | Huang Xiaoxian
Zhongyuan Opera Stage Yangqu Town, Qixian County, Henan 2005 The audience was in full swing
We can feel the breath from ancient times everywhere in the land of the Central Plains, feel the rich reserves and tenacious vitality of national culture, and feel how a civilization is inherited and continued, and it is endless. The long history and cultural atmosphere of the Central Plains have produced a large number of photographers with historical and cultural consciousness, and for a long time, vernacular photography with historical and cultural significance has become the mainstream and characteristic of Central Plains photography, and even makes people feel that the body and mind of this group of photographers have always been in the historical situation.
Zhongyuan Temple Fair Daokou Town, Huaxian County, Henan 2014 Stilt Team With Makeup On Makeup
Hu Li is a very representative one, he positioned his lens in the folk, from folk life to the depths of history. Hu Li's documentary photography not only has the pure image meaning of momentariness, fun center, geometric composition, etc., but also has a strong sense of direct attack, reality and immediate vision, especially he lets irrelevant things enter and accidental things break into the picture, and deliberately grasps the "real flaws" and "deliberate imperfections", making it a narrative style that distinguishes others. It can be said that the pursuit of the image itself is also the goal and motivation of Hu Li photography, or even more fundamental. Why did we shoot the special topic of "Zhongyuan" and why did you choose the square format, with these questions, we interviewed Mr. Hu Li.
Zhongyuan Temple Fair Henan Dengfeng 2005 Pilgrims who come to incense with offerings and blowing loudspeakers at the Zhongyue Temple Festival
q: Travel World Photography a: Hu Li
Big photography
Why do you like photography? How did you get on the path of photography?
Hu Li
I liked photography when I was fourteen or fifteen years old in junior high school, and I thought photography was magical, and I liked to take pictures and enjoy the process of hand-making photos in the darkroom. I really engaged in photography since the second half of 2000, I retired from my post early due to physical reasons, and these sixteen years have eliminated all interference and specialized in photography.
Does photography have an impact on your life? Or does it have an impact on the way you see the world and how you see life?
Photography is a part of my life, and it's a very important part. After leaving work in 2000, I focused on photography for the rest of my life, and until now I shoot every day, and photography has become a part of myself. Photography speaks with images, although our generation has experienced more: such as three years of natural disasters, the Cultural Revolution, going to the mountains and going to the countryside, reform and opening up... But experience is one thing, attention is another, many people have unconscious experiences, but not necessarily conscious attention. Photography has taught me to use images to pay attention to society, life, reality and inner expression, and in this regard, photography has a particularly great impact on me, it makes me know culture, diseases, and especially contentment.
Zhongyuan Ancient City Henan Shangqiu 2006 Outside the Ancient City Gate
What does photography mean to you? What do you think is the most important function of photography?
Photography for me, is my 45 years old to the present and even to another world of spiritual sustenance and spiritual pursuit, I think photography is the most important record function, of course, with the development of photography and the broadening of modern photography language, photography has also become a way to express personality and heart.
Why did you choose square formats for your creations?
I personally like square formats, in 2000 when I was engaged in photography, the first thing I bought was Hasselblad formats, I think this may be related to my personal experience, personality, when I was young to learn photography with seagulls. And I am personally more traditional, and like dignified, steady, generous things.
Another point is probably related to the subjects I photograph, most of the photographs I shoot are traditional, historical, humanistic things, and I have a lot of respect for these subjects, and I want to show them with respectful images. More than ten years ago, when I first came into contact with the Internet, some people said that you had to give yourself a screen name, I said that I liked "square format", so I took this name and used it until now.
Little Foot Old Man 2005 Portrait of an Old Man in Yangqu Town, QiXian County, Henan Province
Why did you shoot such a group of works as "Zhongyuan", and what do you want to express?
For more than a decade, I have established three principles for my own photography: "Stick to the locality, the lens is always facing the society, facing life; multi-point entry, lifelong attention, mainly shooting thematic pictures of humanistic themes that are about to disappear or undergo major changes in ten to twenty years; pursuing the individual expression of the photographic ontological language, and exploring the multiple forms of expression of different image languages." Shooting the Central Plains, I mainly want to record the culture, history, traditions, and folklore of the Central Plains, I want to record these deep cultures that are about to disappear, so that future generations can understand, while recording, I also pursue classic image expression as much as possible, and speak with images.
Zhongyuan Temple Fair Wuxing Township, Puyang, Henan 2006 Actor resting on a wheat field
What camera and film did you shoot the Zhongyuan feature?
For the filming of the "Central Plains" feature, I have always used the body of the Mamia 6 and a 50mm lens, and the film is Kodak tmax, which I have been shooting for more than ten years, using this. In fact, the choice of each thematic format is also a language form of expression, what kind of format, what kind of camera, what kind of film determines your way of observation and image expression, so I am particularly cautious about the choice of camera and film. From 2000 to the present, I have shot more than a dozen features, and in general, I use only one camera and one film for each topic that best reflects the language of my images. Although the function of digital cameras is now very powerful, but I still have a special love for film, just like eating dumplings, many people like quick-frozen dumplings, but I still like to wrap them out little by little, I think it is particularly meaningful to use film that has rarely been used to express the human history of the Central Plains that is about to disappear.
Central Plains People Henan Huaiyang 2014 Street Monkey Man
What will be your next subject?
Now that I am more than 60 years old, I sometimes feel overwhelmed, and it took two and a half years to sort out the topic of "Zhongyuan". In 2009, I started working on color paper direct imaging technology. In March 2014, the "color photo paper direct shooting process" also obtained the "Invention Patent Certificate" issued by the Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China, but because I have been busy with "Zhongyuan" for all these years, I have not come up with photos taken with this technology, and the next step is to use the color photo paper direct shooting process and take a set of pictures that I am satisfied with with a large format camera. In addition, there is still a lot of unfinished work on hand, I will continue to complete, once I agreed with Zhao Liwen (a photographer in Xi'an) to insist on taking pictures all the time, until the shutter can not be pressed, until the end of life.
Zhongyuan Opera Stage Daokou Town, Wuyang County, Henan Province, 2005 Most of the people watching the drama are elderly people who are old
Male, born in 1955, freelance photographer.
publication
In April 2016, China Photography Publishing House published the photographic album "Zhongyuan"
In April 2009, China Book Publishing House published the collection of photographic works "The Happy Life of Coal Miners"
In November 2008, the International Chinese Culture Publishing House published the album "Earth God • Fire Fairy"
In September 2007, China Book Publishing House published the photographic collections "Backwards • Backwards" and "Happiness"
In March 2004, China Photography Publishing House published the collection of photographic works "Patio People"
In June 2003, China Photography Publishing House published the collection of photographic works "The Fire Digger"
collection
In August 2009, the Dali International Video Museum collected the photographic work "The End • Little Feet"
In May 2005, the Henan Provincial Museum collected the photographic work "The Fire Digger"
invent
In March 2014, the "Color Photo Paper Direct Shooting Process" was awarded the "Invention Patent Certificate" issued by the Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China.
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