光影大師羅伯特在山城摁下的快門

□ 文/本刊記者 李靜 攝影/吳岸

光影大師羅伯特在山城摁下的快門

□ 文/本刊記者 李靜 攝影/吳岸

之所以樂意為羅伯特·凡德·休斯特的《中國人家》寫序，就是因?yàn)槲以谒臄z影作品里看到了從內(nèi)心出發(fā)，抵達(dá)表情的尊嚴(yán)。羅伯特·凡德·休斯特精心設(shè)計(jì)了他需要的畫面，然后摁下了快門。我感到，他在摁下快門的時(shí)候，心里充滿了對(duì)被拍攝者的尊重，無論是人物，還是景物，羅伯特·凡德·休斯特都以感激之情對(duì)待。

——余華（著名作家）

“老城是一部厚重的歷史教科書，一座城市最能喚起人們記憶的通常是它那歷史悠久，具有地域特色的老街區(qū)、老建筑，重慶老城也不例外。羅伯特先生將他的鏡頭緊緊逼近普通人家，一些司空見慣的日常生活細(xì)節(jié)和居住環(huán)境被羅伯特用光影、色調(diào)和構(gòu)圖表現(xiàn)得生動(dòng)感人。拍攝場景大都顯得樸質(zhì)簡陋，甚至還有些破舊凌亂，但拍攝對(duì)象的率真、質(zhì)樸，情感流露、精神追求以及對(duì)美好生活的向往躍然畫面，讓人記之于心而難以忘懷?！?/p>

——何智亞（城市規(guī)劃建筑專家、歷史文化學(xué)者、資深攝影家）

已經(jīng)深深愛上重慶的羅伯特先生接受重慶電視欄目的現(xiàn)場專訪

外國友人正仔細(xì)欣賞《重慶人家》的攝影作品

“這個(gè)角度不錯(cuò)，光線夾雜著灰塵，很有時(shí)光流逝感?！?月，初夏的重慶，一位滿頭銀發(fā)的外國老人手持相機(jī)在位于江北的重慶白貓日化廠舊址兜兜轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)，進(jìn)行攝影創(chuàng)作。

老人來自荷蘭，名叫羅伯特·凡德·休斯特，是在歐洲享有盛譽(yù)的“光影大師”。白貓日化廠舊址即將改造成重慶文化新地標(biāo)“喵兒石創(chuàng)藝特區(qū)”，羅伯特希望將老廠區(qū)的最后時(shí)光收錄在自己的作品當(dāng)中。他此次在渝將主要拍攝渝中區(qū)和南岸區(qū)老街里的老重慶人家。他已經(jīng)在渝中區(qū)山城巷、彈子石大石壩、下浩等地進(jìn)行了拍攝。之后又來到南山上的黃桷埡老街。

對(duì)于中國，羅伯特并不陌生。他曾在6年間走訪了中國24個(gè)省份，走進(jìn)兩千多個(gè)中國家庭，拍攝了大型攝影作品集《中國人家》，并于2004年受邀擔(dān)任中國平遙攝影節(jié)評(píng)委會(huì)主席。羅伯特告訴記者，此次來渝，一看到白貓日化廠舊址，瞬間就被打動(dòng)了?！拔以谟《取⒂《饶嵛鱽喤臄z過廢棄的工廠，但跟重慶的工廠完全不一樣！重慶的老廠區(qū)有一種詩意的美，在這里有大片的灰色，以及不加修飾的光線和安靜而陳舊的物什，呈現(xiàn)出一種魔幻的感覺?！?/p>

談到這個(gè)“重慶人家”拍攝計(jì)劃時(shí)，羅伯特表示，雖然是一名外國攝影師，但拍攝不分國界，可以通過眼神、動(dòng)情和感受來交流?！?004年我開始著手‘中國人家’這個(gè)攝影專題，此前一年我剛剛完成‘古巴人家’的專題，所以相信可以將用于古巴的手法用于中國，通過在人們家中拍攝，面對(duì)他們，了解他們，根據(jù)我之所見，將他們安排在家中的不同位置?！?/p>

相比在古巴的拍攝最大的不同是：羅伯特和當(dāng)?shù)厝苏f西班牙語，在短暫的時(shí)光內(nèi)與他們共同相處，但是這些招數(shù)在中國完全行不通。他不會(huì)說中文，對(duì)中國文化也知之甚少。當(dāng)他站在門口時(shí)，重慶的普通市民對(duì)這個(gè)銀頭發(fā)高個(gè)子、帶著照相器材的外國人流露出迷茫和不確定，他和他的攝影對(duì)象之間存在著鴻溝。羅伯特告訴記者，雖然有障礙，但他很有興致來跨越這道鴻溝，而這些人們所表現(xiàn)出的好奇也促使著他去完成這個(gè)目標(biāo)。

拍攝時(shí)，羅伯特通過翻譯向大家說明他的身份和企圖。過了這道坎之后，他便可以和當(dāng)?shù)厥忻襁M(jìn)行交流了——用眼神、用情感、用他的感受來交流。在這以后，羅伯特發(fā)現(xiàn)自己能夠融入他們的家庭了，就像在那些他能夠用語言交流的國家那樣，進(jìn)而能夠拍下與他們默默交流的那一個(gè)又一個(gè)瞬間。

這次之所以還選擇拍攝了南岸區(qū)，羅伯特表示，是因?yàn)槟习秴^(qū)對(duì)于重慶來說，是很有代表性的地方。再加上荷蘭駐渝總領(lǐng)事譚敬南的極力推薦，所以最終就選擇了拍攝這里?！白≡诶铣菂^(qū)的人給我的感覺就是他們很享受住在老房子里面的感覺，他們很享受現(xiàn)在的生活狀態(tài)，他們并不想急著搬出這里，去到新修的大樓里面居住?！绷_伯特告訴記者，他去了女作家三毛生活過的地方黃桷椏正街，還有彈子石大石壩等地方拍攝，“我很驚訝，在南岸區(qū)繁華的商圈附近，竟然還留存著這些古舊的建筑?！?/p>

翻看羅伯特的攝影作品，可以看到，他全部靠自然光拍攝，從不用打光，也幾乎不做后期處理，攝影功底一目了然。他的作品給人油畫般的感覺，很容易讓人聯(lián)想到荷蘭17世紀(jì)黃金時(shí)代畫家的作品。

談到此次拍攝的照片中最喜歡的作品，羅伯特認(rèn)為是那張“做菜的女孩”，也就是攝影集封面的那張照片，和另一張“抱著寵物狗的婦人”兩張作品。羅伯特說，照片都是按照真實(shí)自然的生活狀態(tài)來拍攝的。每一張照片表達(dá)的生活主題都是不同的，主要就是為了讓不同的主題之間可以產(chǎn)生對(duì)比。

“其實(shí)拍攝這組照片跟之前拍攝的‘中國人家’系列照片的套路是一樣的，都是尋找一座城市的古舊建筑，然后去拍攝。重慶給我最深的印象便是這里的潮濕和炎熱，而這里的人則和之前遇到的其他城市的人一樣熱情。”羅伯特告訴記者，拍攝“中國人家”系列照片用了六、七年的時(shí)間，當(dāng)時(shí)沒有來重慶這座獨(dú)特的城市，現(xiàn)在想來還真是有些遺憾。

當(dāng)問起相比他以往拍過的杭州、上海等其他中國人家，這次重慶人家拍攝有何不同感受時(shí)，羅伯特笑稱，除了都很艱辛外，還有個(gè)最大不同就是“重慶太熱、潮濕，還有就是（馬路）不停上上下下的感覺很棒”。

It is with real pleasure that I wrote the preface for Chinese Interior by Robert Van Der Hilst because I can see in his photographic works a kind of dignity that stems from his deep heart， which is again found in the photo. Before pressing the shutter， he always makes a deliberate design of the image he needs. And I can feel that he is brimming with the respect for the photographed. Be it people or natural view， he's always been grateful to them.

—— Yu Hua （ famous writer）

“An old town is like a thick history textbook. And usually it is those old blocks and old buildings with regional features that evoke people's fond memories. Chongqing is not an exception. With his camera lens approaching ordinary families， Mr. Robert vividly and touchingly expressed some details of common daily life and living environment with light and shadow， hues and photographic lines. In spite of the austere， crude， even a little shabby and messy shooting scene， I can not help but let it linger in my mind the moving image in which the subject conveys their simplicity， integrity， emotions as well as pursuit of a spiritually and materially affl uent life.”

——He Zhiya（renowned architect of urban planning， scholar of historical culture and senior photographer.）

“This is a good angle. The light mixed with dust in the air gives a great sense of time fl ow.” It was an early summer day of June in Chongqing. A grey-haired foreign old gentleman was strolling around the old site of Chongqing Chemical Plant of White Cat Group with a camera in hand for photography shooting.

The old man from Netherland is Robert Van Der Hilst，who enjoys a high reputation as a master of capturing light and shadow in Europe. As the old plant site was going to be edeveloped into Meow Stone Art Zone， a new landmark of Chongqing culture， Robert wished to encompass the last moments of it in his works. During his stay in Chongqing， he would mainly focus on the scenarios of Chongqing people living n the old street of Yuzhong District and Nan'an District. After shooting pictures in Shanchengxiang， Dashiba and Xiahao，hen he came to Huangjueya， an old street in Nanshan.

Robert is never a stranger to China. He used to visit more han 2，000 families in 24 provinces of China within 6 years or the creation of his large photographic album—Chinese nteriors， and was invited to be the chairman of the selection panel of Pingyao Photography Festival in China in 2004. Robert said in an interview that he was suddenly moved at the first sight of the old plant site this time in Chongqing. “I used to shoot the views of abandoned factories in India and Indonesia. But they are never like those in Chongqing. There is a kind of poetic beauty in that old plant of Chongqing， where large expanse of the grey， austere lights and antique things in silence present a magic spell to me.”

Speaking of the shooting schedule of “Chongqing nteriors”， Robert said that though being a foreign photographer，he believed photography knows no nation boundaries and people can feel and communicate with each other with eyes and the expression of emotion. “I started this Chinese Interior photography project in 2004 and just a year ago I fi nished the Cuba Interior. So I believe that I can do the same in China with the same technique in Cuba. Through shooting pictures n Chinese families， I can face them， understand them and put hem in different positions of the house according to my own understanding.”

Compared to the conditions in Cuba where Robert may communicate with the locals in Spanish and fit in well with hem soon， the biggest difference here is that is never going to work in China because he does not know Chinese language and little does he know about Chinese culture. While he was standing at the door， the ordinary Chongqing citizens were i lled with confusion and uncertainty about this tall grey-haired oreign man with photographic apparatus because there was a wide gap between his objects and him. In spite of the linguistic obstacles， Robert told the reporter that he was more than pleased to fi ll in the gap， for the curiosity on these people's face forced him to achieve the goal.

With the help of an interpreter， Robert identified himself and his attempts before the shooting. Getting over the first obstacle， he could communicate with the local citizens through eye contact， emotions， and his own feelings. After that， he found himself blend in their families just like in the countries where he could communicate in a spoken language， which then enabled him to capture the moments of silent communication of these families.

According to Robert， the reason why he chose to shoot Nan'nan District is that for Chongqing， it is very typical of the city. And the strong recommendation from Tan Jingnan，Netherland's consul general in Chongqing， he finally made the decision. “What the people living in the old town district impress me is that they seem be more than satisfi ed living in an old house and they pretty much enjoy their present life status. They don't want rush out of here to live in new buildings.” He told the reporter that he had been to Huangjueya street， where the female writer San Mao as well as Dashiba of Danzishifor shooting， “I'm very surprised to fi nd that the old buildings still exist near the prosperous Nanan commercial zone.

Through Robert's photographic works， we may find his photographic foundation is self-evident. Totally dependent on natural light， he never uses additional lighting and scarcely does he do post-processing. Thus his work feels like a painting，easily reminiscent of works from the golden-age painters of Netherland in the 17th century.

When it comes to his most favorite photographic works，Robert thinks one must be “the cooking girl”， which is also the cover of the photo album. And the other is “the woman holding a pet dog”. Robert said that all these photos are taken in accordance with real and natural state of life with the theme of each different from the others so that contrast can be formed among them.

“Actually I've followed the same routine as what I applied in the shooting of the “Chinese Interior. I find some old architecture in a city and then take photos. What Chongqing impressed me most is its humid and hot weather. And the people here are as hospitable as those I met in different cities before.” Robert said to the reporter. It gives him some regret that he did not visit this unique city during his 6 to 7 years' of creating the “Chinese Interior” series.

When asked what different feelings he has during this time shooting in Chongqing compared to other cities of China such as Hangzhou and Shanghai， he cracked a smile and said apart form the hardship， the biggest difference is that “Chongqing is too much hot and humid. By the way， it feels great to keep going up and down on the road.”

The Shutter Pressed in Chongqing by Robert——a Master of Shadow and Light

□ Written by Li Jing Photo by Wu'An