Hou Zhikuan: take pictures of the world, and the shadow is the voice of the heart
2022-02-16
"The behavior of photography is the voice in the people's heart. We should express our own voice and transmit positive energy through works." Talking about photography, Hou Zhikuan, who is over seventy years old, is in high spirits. He summarizes his understanding of photography as "shooting in the world and taking pictures as the voice of his heart". Hou Zhikuan is now the executive chairman of Beijing photography collection Association and vice chairman of Beijing Photography Art Association. He has served as the planner and judge of photography competitions at home and abroad for many times. Many photography works have been published in newspapers and online media such as Guangming Daily and popular photography. Hou Zhikuan's hobby of photography began in high school and has become an indispensable bright color in his life. From joining the army in 1969 to changing jobs in 1981, and then to being the party secretary and factory director of Beijing No. 1 Textile Machinery Factory, he has always been accompanied by photography after work. After retirement, he had more time to study photography. In 2009, he entered the Beijing photography correspondence college, became a member of the China Photography Association in 2010, obtained the senior photographer qualification certificate in 2011, and began to serve as the vice president and Secretary General of the Beijing Photography Art Association in 2012. From hobby to professional photography, Hou Zhikuan has never stopped moving forward in his photography career of more than 50 years. He expresses his voice and records the changes of the times through his photography works rich in positive energy. Make photography meaningful Autumn rhyme of the Great Wall is a work shot by Hou Zhikuan in 2013. In the picture, the Badaling Great Wall winds upward, and the mountains and forests on both sides are colorful. This seemingly simple landscape photo, There are many thoughts behind him - "first, we should show the beauty of the natural scenery in autumn; secondly, we should highlight the grandeur of the great wall and the spirit of the ancients in building the great wall; thirdly, I would also like to emphasize that although the road of life is tortuous, we should continue to climb upward; finally, the defensive function of the great wall itself also highlights the Chinese people's peace loving national spirit, which has a certain contemporary significance." Meaningful pictures have vitality, and this is also the result of Hou Zhikuan's careful conception before each shooting. Before going to Quyang, Hebei to shoot the intangible cultural heritage "Quyang blowing songs", he bought paper-cut for the year of the monkey and pasted the paper-cut on the window as the background, which immediately enhanced the festive atmosphere and sense of time of the photos, and finally formed the group photo "Quyang blowing songs to welcome the year of the monkey". At the same time, he advocates to be flexible and sensitive to photographers' life. When he went to Jiangxi to collect wind, he saw the words "farmers' laughter" printed on the apron of the roadside tea picking women, and he immediately had inspiration, so he determined to capture the happy state of farmers in this trip. "Every picture should be thought through and meaningful." It has always been Hou Zhikuan's pursuit of photography art to express his heart through photography and make photography more meaningful. For Yu Hou Zhikuan, the deeper significance of photography is constantly realized in the combination with work, in serving the society and winning glory for the country. "I increasingly realize that the purpose of photography is not only to win awards, but also to help others and contribute to the society." During his decades of working in the unit, he promoted his work with photography and sought the meaning of photography in his work. In the 1980s, as the head of the unit, he used photography to narrow the distance with workers. During the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, he recorded with a camera the whole process of the Beijing Economic Commission coordinating relevant factories to urgently produce tents for the disaster area. Later, with the increasing enrichment of shooting experience and photography works, he was also employed as a consultant by many units and undertook more important photography tasks, such as taking all-round photos of the national textile model worker commendation conference in the Great Hall of the people in January 2011, and taking content photos of three large picture albums of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee in March 2017. In addition, Hou Zhikuan often goes to ethnic minorities and remote areas to record the style and features of the north and south of the motherland with cameras and witness the blending of ancient and modern with cameras. From Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County in Guangxi to Ruyuan in Guangdong, which is known as the "hometown of the world's roller coaster Yao", from the song Blowing in Quyang, Hebei to the Millennium Wai Building in Shixing, Guangdong, every time he goes deep into collecting wind, he is committed to publicizing the local culture from the unique perspective of photographers, "especially hoping to contribute to the development of local tourism and economy". According to Hou Zhikuan, the significance of photography lies in winning glory for the country in international exchanges. "I can't win the honor for the country on the field like an athlete, but I can introduce the excellent morality of the Chinese people, China's natural scenery and cultural heritage through pictures. This is the honor for the country as an ordinary person." In 2014, his works such as the Paralympic Ambassador painting the Forbidden City were exhibited at the Tuen Migros Gallery in Switzerland. In 2016, he won the "Medal of urban art" at the luxiyon film exhibition in France, and his work "camel team" was also collected by the municipal government... "Foreigners collect my works and will not remember my name, but will remember that I am Chinese." Now, Hou Zhikuan has always been responsible for promoting the exchange and dialogue between Chinese and foreign photographers. Endless learning and continuous breakthrough *** As far as the shooting theme is concerned, he gradually tends to shoot humanistic documentary works from the beginning. Photography is an instantaneous art. "Humanistic documentary photography is more commemorative and unique than landscape photography." Just like the group photo "imaging · Cosplay" published in "Chinese photographer" (April 2020), he used the lens to truly record the cultural phenomenon of cosplay among teenagers, from which we can also see his keen sense of new things. From participating in the exhibition to planning the exhibition, it also reflects the transformation of Hou Zhikuan's identity. "With more photos and more platforms, I thought about what else I could do." The difference between curating and photography creation is that we need to consider more, "I have to consider all aspects, such as time, place, effect, capital, etc." In particular, in 2019, he served as the curator of the Xingong exhibition hall of Beijing International Photography week. In order to fit the characteristics of farmers and enter the grass-roots countryside, he moved the photography exhibition of Beijing International Photography week to the outdoor lawn for the first time. In recent years, as the executive chairman of Beijing photography collection Association, Hou Zhikuan also turned his attention to photography collection. He emphasized that "collect but not hide". Good photography works have the dual value of investment and appreciation. "We should publicize photography culture through exhibition and exchange". As for his personal collection, he mainly collects photography related books, newspapers and the works of famous photographers at home and abroad, and a 19th-century healing falling film changer is also very precious. "To learn photography, we must first learn to be a man", which Hou Zhikuan emphasized many times in an interview. He was deeply influenced by Zhu Xianmin, a consultant of the China Film Association, and took "diligence, persistence, kindness, gratitude and perfection" as his code of conduct, striving to complete every photography creation in the best state. He repeated the word "respect". First of all, we should respect photography itself. "I don't agree that some people always say that their photos are 'taken casually', which in itself is disrespect for photography and irresponsible to themselves and others." The second is to respect the photographed, such as respecting the religious beliefs of Tibetan compatriots, and not using flash lights when shooting children. "If others don't let you shoot, don't shoot, and respect other people's privacy". Hou Zhikuan firmly believes that only by actively communicating with the photographed and gaining their trust, can it be possible to make a good film. Hou Zhikuan's tireless pursuit of photography art is to "shoot in the world and take the shadow as the voice of his heart", and shoot works that express his voice and have rich significance. From shooting a wide range of subjects to forming his own shooting topics, from participating in exhibitions to planning film competitions, from winning awards at home to going to international exchanges, and then paying attention to photography collection in recent years, photography brings him not only more good teachers and friends and colorful life, but also serving the society and winning glory for the country The sense of happiness and achievement obtained in the process of constantly breaking through self. In the future, Hou Zhikuan will continue to move forward on the road of photography art. It is the so-called "happy old age" and "promising old age". He admitted that "I am full and happy". [News Agency]
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