Jia Zazhia blogzine on PHOTOGRAPHY in & near China, plus other Beauties

黄臻伟 (豆瓣)1986年出生于漳州，在厦门长大。他在成都美术学院完成了动画本科学业，之后前往伦敦传媒学院学习摄影，2010年获得爱丁堡艺术学院摄影硕士学位。2010年4月，他和朋友前往冰岛旅行，在两周时间内拍摄了这组“Lost Island”系列。他说这个名字最好的翻译应该是“迷失岛”，因为冰岛就是这样一个能令他迷失的岛屿。而这次的访谈，除了“迷失岛”系列之外，他还向假杂志讲述了他的其它很多经历。

Zhenwei Huang was born in Zhangzhou, and grew up in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China. He studied Animation in Chengdu Fine Art Academy, then moved to London and finished Postgraduate Diploma Course in Photography at London College of Communication. He got his MA in Photography at Edinburgh College of Art in 2010. He traveled to Iceland in Apr. 2010 for about two weeks with his friend, and finished the series LOST ISLAND. In this InterView, he talked not only about his LOST ISLAND series, but more about his photography experiences.

还记得第一次拿起相机的情景吗？为什么想成为摄影师呢？
我第一次拿相机应该是小学低年级时候参加的摄影兴趣小组，只有两件事能记得，就是那是一台凤凰的单反，那卷胶卷里肯定有一张街边偷拍的姑娘吃烤串的照片，唯一一张对准了焦的。
我真正第一次拍照是大一的时候, 和一个朋友半夜到学校旁边一个叫双流的小县城，我拿他的小数码拍了一堆空景，后来我自己拿PS修了一下，觉得比上基础课画素描容易多了，非常兴奋，感觉就是觉得自己是真的在创作一个作品，于是很想买一台单反。
我也没有太想成为一个摄影师，我会很多其他的事情，我觉得如果不用考虑经济问题，有机会去做的话，挑其中一样来做我都会很高兴。

你是哪年出国的？当时为什么想出国学摄影？
我是08年6月出国。实际上我5月就离开了我本科那个美院，那个时候还没有组织交论文，答辩和毕业创作，我跑去纠缠系主任说我要走了能不能让我先把事情做完，后来他们专门给我组织了个答辩组，完成后我立刻去广州办签证了。我从决定要去英国到拿到签证一共就5个月时间，到了英国的时候还想不明白，太快了，有点喘不过气。
出国学摄影之前我有两件重要的事，一件是我动画本科的学业，另一件是我的乐队。动画这件事我从大三就基本放弃了，因为我觉得那个教育机制，理念和产业链条都非常糟糕。然后我的乐队，那个时候其实状况还不错，但效率太低，毕竟大家都有各自的生计，家庭之类的问题。很多事情效率太低的情况下，看起来就太不成熟了，所以我就选择离开，去做点一个人能做的而且更“严肃”的事。但我的乐队非常优秀，很可惜。
我申请学校的时候，专业问题没太大争议，因为我只有摄影作品能拿来申请学校，我想我总不能拿素描色彩作品去申请，也不想拿小组做的动画作品来申请，因为不属于个人作品。

回过头去看，这几年最大的收获有哪些？
我出国以后，基本上，好多事情其实是从头学起的，包括摄影，课程开始了，才觉得自己其实很幼稚，什么都不懂。所以本质上来说我最大的收获应该就是理解和审美，都是在学习怎么认知这个世界和自己，最终目的是建立一个真正独立的我自己的系统。

对想出国学摄影或艺术的后辈你有什么建议？
在国外学习有一个巨大的好处就是资源和环境，我一向觉得除了多去图书馆和各种展览，还应该多去看看和体验， 介入才会有挖掘的可能，这对敏感的人特别有效，所以我的建议就是别在家上网，出去做各种事，事物的关联性是很有趣的，也许你想做的项目的灵感会出现在你本来没打算做的无聊的事情上。
如果是学习摄影的同学，我建议他们能把更多注意力放在超过“意外”以外的审美取向。

对你而言，摄影是什么？
我最早觉得摄影就是拍照，曾经觉得摄影是表达，后来觉得摄影是叙述，现在觉得是“组织”，动名词都是。其实探讨了千万遍而没有答案的摄影的主观客观性问题，让这个问题缺少了答案，或者说答案很多，我看过好多很精彩的答案，精彩，但是大不多数时候不重要。

提到大师，你马上想到的是谁？请谈谈你心目中的他/他们。
蔡国强和黄永砯，其实还有很多，但我最近在做相关的research，所以马上想到了他们。我觉得，他们在做你想不到的或者做不到的，又有趣，又严肃，而且真诚的，又美丽的事情，他们有自己的审美体系，不能再讲各花入各眼这种话了，我觉得审美一定是有高低贵贱的，应该说都是在创作作品，我觉得他们想法和实施上都显得上流高级些。
还有就是他们的符号，毕竟符号是当代艺术的基本元素，我觉得他们很聪明，选择技术或审美作为符号，甚至不要特定符号，聪明过选择政治或者流行事物当符号许多，因为同样是成就，这种方式的才华被放在了首位来讨论。

还有谁对你产生了影响？
对我产生影响的有很多是美国七十年代的 新彩色摄影相关的摄影师，其中有Stephen Shore，还有德国的 Andreas Gursky、Thomas struth都是我特别喜欢的。Robert Frank和杉本博司也是我最崇敬的摄影师。

请谈谈“Lost Island”系列吧？中文会译作什么？
“Lost Island”是2010年4月在冰岛旅行的时候拍摄的，两个礼拜左右时间，我们开车环岛，我分别用了大画幅和中画幅来拍摄。这个系列其实都不能称作是系列，因为它很松散随机，甚至不太像按照“公路”线索来创作的系列。我不太喜欢把没关联的照片放在一起，用“蒙太奇”来展现一种诗意的联系或者解释，所以当我把那些照片放在一起的时候，我找不到联系在一起的线索，牵强放在一起显得没有态度，单独分开几个系列又不够分量，所以我把他们都当成单纯的冰岛照片，没有更多的故事了。这堆作品很好，是我冒着生命危险拍的，好几次差点没命，相机也出现了损伤和不工作的情况，应该说十分艰难，最后照片又安静又孤独，这种经历和结果，差不多就是我想要的。我其实没有其他意图的，和我大多数其他作品，也不限制观众怎么看它。如果观看的人有区别于我的感受的话，我会很感激。
“Lost Island”的中文应该是“迷失岛”， 挺贴切的。
我很想再去一趟雷克亚维克，我希望我能把它的夜景当成一个严谨的项目来完成。它的建筑和事物极度简约，非常功能性，让我着迷。

除了这个系列之外，你还想向假杂志的读者推荐自己的哪个系列？也请谈谈那个系列。
我希望大家能看看“白日梦”系列，是我在毕业展上被收藏最多的系列。其实我收到的反馈很少，所以才想要特别推荐给你们，我想听听你们的想法。
它的概念其实很简单，我记录的是很常见的内部空间，城市中心，城市边缘在没有人的时刻，又具备有和人联系的线索的人造风景，同时叙述的是已经存在的环境元素被我组织起来潜在的独立的诗意和美感。它们对我来说是个介乎熟悉与陌生之间的城市，这只是和我自己的联系，像一个需要被解读的不太秘密的密码，我设置了3个系列放在一起作为PROJECT，是希望被完善地组织过的城市的一些局部，又被我重新组织了，我觉得这很有趣，我希望观众的感受在真实和不真实之间，并且产生自己的观点，对城市有新的猜测和理解。当然，它们表面上展现出来的城市风景和人造风景就带有很多讯息。
有一些摄影作品，被用私人和诗意两个词就大体概括，这是两个很强硬的词汇，让观众不得不去理解和接受，我在尝试让一些作品里多一些客观性，我相信真正存在的事物带来的张力会扎实地从眼入心，可能性也会更多。

未来半年或一年有什么可以公开的计划？
我可能很快要回国一段时间，我想了很多计划，这让我有点混乱，我想回到一个万分熟悉的地方，要么被新的事物吸引，要么被一种固有情绪吸引，这都是一种限制。如果我回厦门的话，我有可能先实施一个公共空间的拍摄计划，图书馆或者是医院。因为对待它们我可以很冷静。
有一些很有“情怀”的创作计划，我希望在我能具体控制“情怀”、“情绪”和“情感”阶段再去拍摄会更合适，也会更真诚。


Do you remember the first time you picked up the camera? Why did you want to be a photographer?
I first picked up the camera when I attended a photography group in primary grades. There were two things I can remember now. That was a Phoenix SLR camera, and in those films there definitely was one picture I snapped of a girl eating strings of roast meat. That was the only picture with correct focus.
I first shot when I was a university freshman. In the midnight I went to a small town named Shuangliu near my school with a friend and shot empty scenes with his digital camera. Later I revised the pictures with PS and felt it easier than drawing sketches in basic class. With excitement of creation, I was longing for a SLR camera.
In fact I don’t want to be a photographer as I can do many other things. Without worring about money, I would be glad to choose one if I have chances.

Which year you went abroad? Why did you want to learn photographer in foreign land?
I went abroad in June 2008, but I actually left the FA college in May when I had not been asked for thesis, viva voce, and graduation creation. I went to plead the dean to  bring forward the above things. Later they had one viva voce group for me. After completion I went to Guangzhou for visa. There was only 5 months between I made the decision and I got the visa. It was too quick to have time to breathe. I even didn’t think clearly when I reached UK.
There were two important things before going abroad. One was, my bachelor major of animation, and the other was, my band. I almost gave up my major from junior when I realized the educational system, idea and industry chain were terrible. My band, though in good status, was short of efficiency because all members must struggle their lives. The immaturity of the band made me leave to do more “serious” things on my own. However, I felt pitiful for my extraordinary band.
When I applied for UK schools, I was not troubled by the major. I could only applied with photographic works, rather than color sketches or animation works, which were composed by a group.

Looking back, which was the biggest harvest in those past years?
After going abroad, I had to learn many things from the start, including photography. When I attended a class, I found myself childish knowing nothing. So essentially my biggest harvest was understanding and appreciating. I was always learning how to know the world and myself. The last destination was to build a really independent system of my own.

What suggestions you will give to inferiors who want to study photography or art abroad?
It’s really good to have good resources and environment abroad. I always think that besides going to library and various exhibitions, it would be better to see and experience as much as you can. Your interference will bring you possibility to dig in. It’s effective to sensitive persons. My suggestion is, don’t surf the internest at home, and go out to try everything. The connection of things is interesting. May be you will be inspired by boring things you have never wanted to do.
For photography learners, I suggest them pay more attention to aesthetic attitudes out of expectation.

To you what is photography?
In early times I thought that photography only meant taking photos. I once considered it as expression or narration, but now, it was “organization” and “organize”. Should photography be subjective or objective, this is a question with no answer or too many answers after thousands of discussions. I have seen many wonderful answers, but in most occasions the answer was not important.

When it comes to “master” (not limited to photography), who do you instantly think of? Please talk about him/them in your mind.
Cai Guoqiang and Huang Yongping. There are many but when I do research recently I think of them. In my opinion, they are doing things you never think and never do, interesting, serious, sincere, and beautiful. They have their own aesthetic system. It’s hard to say “Everyone has his own Hamlet”, because aesthetic attitude has ranks. Different from other creators, they are more superior and advanced in both idea and pratice.
And their signs. After all sign is a basic factor in current art. I think, they are smart enough to choose technology or appreciation as their signs, rather than special ones. They are smarter than those who choose politics or popular things as signs. Talking about achievement, this kind of talent will be put in top one for discussion.

Any other influences?
Mostly photographers of New Topographics in last 70s’ USA, such as Stephen Shore. German photographers Andreas Gursky and Tohomas Struth are both my favorites. Robert Frank and Hiroshi Sugimoto are photographers I admire the most.

Please talk about “Lost Island” series.
I made this series in April 2010 when travelling to Iceland for about two weeks. We drove around the island and I shot with medium and large format. Actually this series can not be strictly considered as a complete series because it’s loose and casual, even without a clue like “road”. I don’t like put pictures having no connection together and create a poetic connection or interpretation with “montage”, so when I put those pictures together, I didn’t find any clue to connect them. I will lose an attitude if I force them together, but they are not powerful enough in single series,  so I consider them as simple pictures about Iceland and no more stories can be told. These works are good, made with my life. It was hard when I almost died and the camera was broken. The final works are quiet and lonely. The experience and result are close to what I want. I didn’t really have an intention. Like most of my other works, I wouldn’t limit how viewers will see them. If the viewer has different feelings with me, I will be thankful.

Besides the series, what other series do you want to recommend to our readers? Please talk about that series.
I hope everybody will see my “Day Dreamer”series, which was the most collected one in my graduation exhibition. I received few feedbacks so I want to recommend to you to have thoughts from you.

Its concept is very simple. I recorded the usual inner space, city center, suburb with no body, and manufactured landscapes connected with human. It narrated the independent sense of beauty and poetry I organized from the existed environmental elements. For me they are a city between intimacy and strangeness. This is only my connection, like a code which is not secret and demanding intepretation. I put three series together as a project to expect a re-organization of some parts of the city which has been organized by me completely. I feel it funny because the viewers, between reality and imagination, will have their own thoughts with new speculations and understandings to the city. Of course the city landscapes and manufactured landscapes emerging on the surface carry many information themselves.
There are some photographic works simply summarized with “intimate” or “poetic”, which are two very strong words, forcing the viewers to understand and feel. I try to add more objectivity in the works believing that the real exitential things will have tensions deeply rooting from eye to heart with more possibility.

Do you have any plan in next six months or one year?
I may soon go back to China for a period of time. Many plans were fermented in my brain and I feel a little mixed. I want to return to a familiar place. It becomes a kind of limitation when being attracted by new things or a fixed emotion. If I return to Xiamen, I will probably carry out a shooting plan about public space, liabrary or hospital, which will mke me keep calm.
There are some plans with “feelings”. I will practise them when I can control specifically “feelings”, “emotions”, and “affections”. That will be more proper and sincere.


撰文、访谈：言由；翻译：莉莉思黄 / 假杂志版权所有，转载请超链接本文网址
Written & Interviewed by Yuan Di; Translated by Lilith / all images © Zhenwei Huang; Please link Jia Za Zhi, if you want to use any part of this aritcle
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