傅文俊 Fu Wenjun

一个极为明了直接的印象是，这里的照片提供了两个不同区域的图景。就单独个别而论我们并不陌生，似乎还非常熟悉，但想要知道得很清楚，说得很明白却又没了自信。对周遭的世界我们看似无所不知，对大量的图片我们并没有去做深层次的思考，而我们得到的往往只是浅表的信息。然而摄影家傅文俊却拿起相机聚焦于那些我们看似熟悉但却陌生的地区，用他自己的视角向观者讲述他所经历的思考。
从这些照片我们可以看出，相机所聚焦的这些地区与主流社会和文化格格不入，照片提供给我们最为直接明了的信息就是“贫瘠”或是“原始”。也许我们很难想象，为什么在对经济发展高度要求的今天我们依旧没有远离贫困和无知。傅文俊拍摄的这套照片显示出他的怀旧情愫和人文关怀，正如他自己所说，他想要卸掉身上背负的沉重的历史负担，用新的眼光来审视眼前这个地方所发生的一切。这是一个负责任的艺术家进行的自我思考。正是艺术家所具有的这种品质，在面对非洲神奇黑土地的时候，他才没有像普通摄影家那样把镜头对准非洲奇异的自然景观和风土人情，对于一个摄影家来讲放弃非洲变换莫测的自然奇观也是需要勇气和自信的。

One immediate and striking impression is that these photographs present scenes from two distinct realms. Taken individually, they are not unfamiliar to us—indeed, they may even feel very familiar. Yet when we try to understand them clearly or articulate them with precision, our confidence seems to falter. We appear to know everything about the world around us, but we rarely engage in deeper reflection on the multitude of images we encounter, often receiving only superficial information. Photographer Fu Wenjun, however, turns his camera toward those areas that seem familiar yet remain strangely unknown. Through his own perspective, he narrates to the viewer the process of thought and reflection he has personally undergone.
From these photographs we can see that the areas on which the camera focuses stand apart from mainstream society and culture. The most immediate and unequivocal impression the images convey is one of “barrenness” or “primitiveness.” It is perhaps difficult for us to imagine why, in an era that places such high demands on economic development, poverty and ignorance have still not been left behind. The series photographed by Fu Wenjun reveals a sense of nostalgia and a deep humanistic concern. As he himself has stated, he seeks to lay down the heavy historical burden he carries and to examine everything that is happening in this place with a renewed perspective. This is a form of self-reflection undertaken by a responsible artist. It is precisely this quality that enables him, when facing the mysterious black lands of Africa, to resist the temptation—common among many photographers—to direct his lens toward Africa’s exotic natural spectacles and picturesque customs. For a photographer, choosing to forgo Africa’s ever-changing natural wonders requires both courage and confidence.

通观傅文俊的摄影，我们可以发现在这两组照片中隐含着一种结构，而且是两两相对，用横向比较的方式表述了这两个看似不同的区域在许多地方都具有相似性。聚族而居的人群、特写的女人肖像、简单的买卖市场是两组照片明显的三个结构。不同的色彩处理手段和摄影并置手法让很多不易发觉的信息在比较中得到彰显，许多细小而零星的信息正是在不同图片的并置中意义明确化的，因此他的作品在系统和结构中显示出特殊的价值。不同之处在于面对不同的景物，作者在段落的控制上有不同的情绪，这主要是通过对色彩的处理来实现的。作者试图通过这样的方式把自己的观点和看法呈现出来。
以凉山为背景的这组照片使用的是有色胶卷展现了色彩的魅力，而拍摄非洲的这组则主要发挥了黑白胶卷的优势。以我们自己的经验来讲，凉山的色彩是苍茫的，凄清凉山沧桑而厚重的性格更适合用黑白胶片来凸显它的苍茫的气质；而非洲的色彩是艳丽的，更适合用彩色胶片来纪录瞬息万变的色彩，这样的色彩也正回应了非洲黑土地上奇异的生命。然而傅文俊反其道而行之，并没有按照客观的事实来处理照片的色彩，而是把自己的主观情感注入到对事物的理解中去。从色彩上看，尽管凉山是异常荒芜的，孩童似乎有一张永远洗不净脸，身上有抖不掉的无尽蒙尘；同时与这些孩童身高和年龄并不匹配的衣物，长长短短，样式差异很大，透露出外界对凉山的关注，作者正是把握到此，用彩色胶片纪录了参差不齐的样式和艳晦不一的色彩，它显得异常真实而客观，并没有有用单一的颜色去渲染人群的壮观。

Surveying Fu Wenjun’s photography as a whole, one can discern an underlying structure within these two groups of images—a structure based on paired opposition. Through horizontal comparison, he reveals that these two seemingly different regions share many similarities. Communal living groups, close-up portraits of women, and simple trading markets constitute three prominent structural elements common to both series. Through differing approaches to color treatment and photographic juxtaposition, much information that might otherwise go unnoticed is brought to the fore through comparison. Many subtle and fragmentary details acquire clear meaning precisely through the placement of images side by side. In this way, Fu Wenjun’s work demonstrates a particular value grounded in system and structure. The differences lie in the artist’s emotional modulation when confronting different scenes, which is achieved primarily through his handling of color. It is through this method that the artist seeks to articulate and convey his own perspectives and reflections.
In the series set against the backdrop of Liangshan, Fu Wenjun employs color film to reveal the expressive power of color, whereas the series photographed in Africa primarily draws on the strengths of black-and-white film. From our own experience, the colors of Liangshan are vast and desolate; its bleak, weathered, and weighty character would seem better suited to black-and-white film, which could more effectively underscore its austere atmosphere. Africa, by contrast, is associated with vivid color and would appear more appropriate for color film to record its ever-shifting hues—colors that resonate with the extraordinary vitality of the black African land. Yet Fu Wenjun deliberately proceeds in the opposite direction. Rather than handling color according to objective convention, he injects his own subjective emotion into his understanding of the subject. In terms of color, although Liangshan is extremely barren, the children seem to have faces that can never be fully washed clean, their bodies perpetually dust-laden. The clothes they wear—often mismatched to their height and age, varying in length and style—reveal the uneven attention paid to Liangshan by the outside world. It is precisely this point that the artist grasps. By using color film, he records the irregular styles and the uneven, sometimes vivid and sometimes muted colors. The result feels strikingly real and objective, without resorting to a single dominant hue to dramatize or aestheticize the crowd.

从拍摄非洲的这组照片中我们依然可以看到作者在色彩的处理上独具匠心。除了三张彩色照片以外其余的照片均是黑白的，它们纪录的是有四千多年历史的非洲割礼的现场。人们独特的装扮、舞蹈和仪式在这块土地上不止千年的单调重复，连接着过去现在和将来，只要没有外力的干扰，它们就会从祖辈的血液里延绵不断的流下去。在作者的眼中，他们既存在又不存在，好似出没于草原的幽灵，因此作者选用黑白来表达这一感受是主观的。作者身处这一现场，并没有被舞蹈和音乐的节奏和气氛所俘获，并没有专注于动作和道具的细节刻画，而是站在自身文化的立场上静观而不介入。我们可以假象，作者确实使用了彩色胶片，然而当他冲洗完成的时候它却成了所有当中无彩的了，往往神在场的地方都会灵异。因此作者选用无彩来处理既是出于礼貌又是出于智慧。
从拍摄的主体来看，凉山和非洲都是以妇女和儿童为主，几乎没有单独的男性角色。凉山的屋檐下蹲踞的大都是孩童，从这个地区人口比例的明显失调可以看出这个地区经济和教育的极度落后。现代社会对教育的高度重视，在这一地区并没有得到相应的认同。享受“不用买书，不缴费，住校还有生活费”的国家教育政策，也无法打动这些父母送孩子上学的决心，这些孩子大部分到一些可以谋生的地方换一碗口粮。更多的背后的故事作者无法用照片来传递，他所拍摄的这些面无表情，身躯瘦小的孩童稚嫩的脸庞被焦灼的太阳烤得发黑，他们承受了同龄人无法承受的东西，他们的身躯无法抵御肆虐的风，米色的察尔瓦裹住了他们的身躯也裹住了他们的思想。作者具有的人文关怀想要唤起更多人关注这些随意而荒芜的孩子的未来，这便是摄影的纪实性带来的震撼，只要是真实的就是感人的。

From the African series, we can still perceive the artist’s distinctive ingenuity in his handling of color. With the exception of three color photographs, all the others are rendered in black and white. They document scenes of African circumcision rituals with a history of more than four thousand years. The people’s distinctive attire, dances, and ceremonies have been repeated monotonously on this land for millennia, linking past, present, and future. So long as there is no external interference, they will continue to flow unbroken through the bloodlines of generations. In the artist’s eyes, these people both exist and do not exist, like apparitions appearing and disappearing across the grasslands. It is for this reason that his choice of black and white is a subjective expression of this perception. Present at the scene, the artist was not captivated by the rhythm and atmosphere of the dance and music, nor did he focus on detailed depictions of movement and ritual objects. Instead, he observed quietly and without intervention, grounded in his own cultural position. We might imagine that the artist did in fact use color film, yet when the images were developed, they became devoid of color. Where the divine is present, there is often something uncanny. Thus, his decision to employ achromatic tones is both an act of respect and an expression of wisdom.
Judging from the subjects portrayed, both the Liangshan and African series focus primarily on women and children, with almost no isolated male figures. Under the eaves in Liangshan, it is mostly children who squat and linger. The pronounced imbalance in the local population structure reveals the region’s extreme economic and educational backwardness. The modern society’s strong emphasis on education has not found corresponding recognition here. Even national education policies—“no need to buy books, no tuition fees, boarding provided along with living allowances”—fail to persuade parents to send their children to school. Most of these children instead head to places where they can scrape together a livelihood in exchange for a bowl of food. Many of the deeper stories behind this reality cannot be conveyed through photographs alone. What the artist captures are the expressionless faces of small, frail children, their youthful features darkened by the scorching sun. They bear burdens far beyond what their peers can endure. Their bodies are unable to withstand the raging winds; the beige chalwa wrapped around them encloses not only their bodies but also their minds. Through his humanistic concern, the artist seeks to awaken greater attention to the future of these neglected and desolate children. This is the shock brought about by photography’s documentary power: so long as it is true, it is moving.

同样的一种关怀我们也可以在非洲的这组照片中得到，左右是无尽的道路，前后是广袤的草原，朦胧的大气似乎看不到尽头，妇女儿童处于这样一种环境，使人看不到未来。
从特写所发挥的作用来看，它们具有相似性。凉山老妪双手捂住脸庞想要掩盖目光中记忆的甜美和期盼。这位老人一定回想起火把节上自己秀美的面庞，婀娜的身姿，回想起曾经的爱人…..回想起过去的一切既羞涩又被时间无情的摧残感到无奈。这个人物形象代表了火把节的皇后，她是这个文化繁衍的传播者和见证人，是凝聚这个文化的中坚力量，期盼的眼神是对野草般孩子的召唤，她的存在暗示了这个文化的生生不息。这张照片对光影的运用和对人物神态的扑捉对传达主题起到了至关重要的作用。她作为这块土地上母亲的象征其作用不言而喻。

A similar sense of concern can also be found in the African series. Endless roads stretch to the left and right, vast grasslands extend before and behind, and the hazy atmosphere seems to have no horizon. Women and children exist within such an environment, one that leaves the future almost impossible to discern.
From the perspective of the role played by close-ups, they share a similar function. The elderly woman from Liangshan covers her face with both hands, as if trying to conceal the sweetness of memory and expectation reflected in her gaze. One can imagine that she is recalling her graceful face and supple figure during past Torch Festivals, recalling a former lover… recalling everything from the past—at once shy and helpless in the face of time’s ruthless erosion. This figure represents the queen of the Torch Festival. She is both a bearer and a witness of this culture’s continuity, a central force that binds it together. The expectant look in her eyes is a call to the children who grow like wild grass; her presence suggests the culture’s enduring vitality. In this photograph, the use of light and shadow, together with the precise capture of the subject’s expression, plays a crucial role in conveying the theme. As a symbol of motherhood on this land, her significance is self-evident.

我们同样可以在拍摄非洲的那组照片中读到相关的信息，那些实施割礼中的神秘舞者，要让他们后人的鲜血流进自己脚下的土地，好让他们同他们自己的祖先建立起血脉联系。这种文化现象看似荒唐但却充满了生命力。正如前面所谈到的，此处的黑白处理实在耐人寻味。那个胸前挂满各种饰品的女人，好似通灵的巫师，目睹神出没的地方也目睹人活动的场所，她像是站在世界的中界上一样，这张照片采用正面的角度，被摄者直逼的眼神，一切信息都在这对视中被理解到。因此从某种意义上讲这张特写代表了非洲神秘黑土地人神之间的中介。
如果割礼的现场代表了神的在场，妇女代表了人神的中介，那么集市的存在恰是人活动的场所。无论这是一个什么样的活动现场，它都涵盖了这块神秘土地基本的精神领域，而这一文化现象同我们自身文化的经验是不同的，作者并没有按照自身的经验去阅读这个表象的世界，而是穿透到表象的背后扑捉了事物的本质。

We can read similar meanings in the African series as well. The mysterious dancers performing circumcision rituals seek to let the blood of their descendants seep into the land beneath their feet, thereby forging a bloodline connection with their ancestors. This cultural phenomenon may appear absurd, yet it is charged with vitality. As discussed earlier, the black-and-white treatment here is particularly evocative. The woman with her chest adorned with various ornaments appears like a shaman, one who witnesses both the places where spirits emerge and the arenas of human activity. She seems to stand at an in-between realm of the world. Shot from a frontal angle, the subject’s direct, piercing gaze confronts the viewer; all meaning is apprehended within this exchange of looks. In this sense, the close-up functions as a mediator between humans and the divine on Africa’s mysterious black land.
If the site of circumcision represents the presence of the divine, and women function as mediators between humans and gods, then the marketplace is precisely the space of human activity. Whatever the specific form of the gathering, it encompasses the fundamental spiritual domain of this mysterious land. This cultural phenomenon differs from our own cultural experience, and the artist does not interpret this visible world through the lens of his own habits. Instead, he penetrates beyond appearances to grasp the essence of things.