Dolpo, an isolated village in the alpine treacherous Himalayan mountains, is located in the mountains of northern Nepal and carries the last snow and ice vein of the Himalayas. For millennia, the pious footsteps of pilgrims and the turquoise lake have surrounded the village. In the early 1980s, photographer Eric Wally became the first foreigner to cross the border on foot and set foot here, finding Dolp's bloody tribal leader in yak skin and asking him about the confusion he faced in life, whether to stay or go back. "Whenever you have two paths in front of you, choose the hardest one, because the hardest one will oppress the best of yourself." It's winter in Paris, and eric Wally says firmly in a crowded tavern in saint-Germain.
Eric Wally has too many titles - working for National Geographic magazine and first prize photographer of the World Press Photography Award; director of the Oscar nomination, French César Award and Berlin Film Festival-winning film "Himalaya"; CCTV Documentary Channel European Ambassador; hermes, Louis Vuitton and other brand co-artists... But these names were not worth mentioning in his opinion, "those are all things in the past", he waved his hand and took a sip of green tea. It was only when he talked about the Himalayas and the adventures of life that his eyes lit up again.
He gritted his lips and teeth and repeated, "The hardest way." He tapped the table with his hands, waved his hands, and said loudly: "So I was thinking, what is the meaning of life, if you don't give you everything, you don't achieve your dreams, if you don't try desperately, what is the point?" For me, to be alive is the hardest road. ”
Twenty years in the Himalayas were the "hardest path" chosen by Eric Wally in his youth. In the 1980s, Dolp took a month's hike from Kathmandu, and today it still takes a week to drive to the road closest to Dorp. "That's the distance between nature and civilization, and it still is," Eric recalls, "there was no electricity, no roads, no commodities, not even trees, but there were really living people there, who crossed the mountains, chopped wood and made fires, and sang about wine." ”
Later, Eric Wally collaborated with Jacques Behan on the film Himalayas, a film that has won many international awards, although it is a feature film, but every detail of the film is the nostalgia of Eric Wally living in Dolp for more than twenty years, and it is also his examination of himself and the life memory of modern civilization. In the film, the sacrificial monks chant and dance at the high platform, and the father calmly takes out the internal organs of his son Laba and sprinkles them bloodily on the hungry vultures; the tribal leader refuses to accept defeat, challenges the limit in bad weather, chooses to take the most difficult road, and leaves an old but stubborn figure in the blizzard... "A man is not born to be defeated, you can destroy him, but you can never defeat him." ”
"Aren't you worried about the danger?" There have been many times when Eric Wally almost died: at the height of the cliff, a foot hollowed out of the stone, fell to the forest of 100 meters; hiked in the blizzard Himalayas, encountered an avalanche, and the rapidly cracking snow mass separated in front of him... He could not remember how many times he had rubbed shoulders with death, but he said firmly: "Danger is never a problem!" If I could really die like that, without telling you, it would be awesome, I like to die like that, it's so much better than being trapped in the city. ”
Eric Wally has always been interested in Chinese Taoist culture, he likes to drink tea, fascinated by the elegant customs of Chinese tea, and even more fascinated by the people in ancient China who were close to nature. Just past 2014, Eric Wally walked along the Yangtze River for a year photographing what he saw of China, documenting lost civilizations and ancient tribes, and is currently preparing the project's 2015 exhibition in China. "This year of walking on the Yangtze River in China has allowed me to experience the simplicity and reality of many lives, which is the most simple Taoist nature of human beings since eons of time."
Special Correspondent /Ernitu/Eric Valli Editor/Helan
T: What kind of people do you most revere in your experience?
e: I admire people who are self-sufficient through manual labor, who know how to live. I don't like cities anywhere in the world, where only the people in nature are really alive, and the civilized people in the city forget that we are part of nature. For example, we invented the electric light, but forgot that there are stars at night, and we use efficient mobile phones to save time, but we don't know how to pass the time. I like to live in the lives of others, in a life that I don't know. All the characters I photographed were my teachers, and I followed them in awe, quietly diving into their lives, to learn, to record.
T: There are many dangerous moments in your adventures, how do you see fear?
E: You know, being afraid is a fun thing, what we're afraid of – the unknown! When we reach the edge of safety, we reach the edge of fear, and one more step, the world we never knew about, so when I was afraid, I knew that a fantastic adventure was about to take place.
t: What are your reading preferences? Did you do some special reading before coming to China?
e: I particularly like hermann Hesse's writings, Demian and Siddhartha. Now I'm looking at the Chinese English-Chinese Idiom Dictionary and I think those stories are interesting!
T: Some advice for Chinese readers who love photography and travel, right?
E: Healthy, courageous, awe- and curious.