{"slug":"telling-china-stories-photography","title":"如何用摄影讲述中国故事？我的尝试和思考~","author":"Thomas看看世界","date":"2023-05-07","wechat":"https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzI4NDA5MzE5NQ==&mid=2247497409&idx=1&sn=1d575d82db41b02797e1d104aa832814&chksm=eb8208a5dcf581b31040bde45a8715e8114444ffe762704e134cd8481d11c578477e80ff270f&scene=21#wechat_redirect","blocks":[{"t":"p","x":"如何拍出有新意的中国视角？","b":false,"xe":"How to shoot a Chinese perspective with new ideas?"},{"t":"p","x":"如何在照片中体现中国当下的时代感？","b":false,"xe":"How to reflect China's current sense of the times in photos?"},{"t":"p","x":"如何用摄影呈现中国发展的成就、挑战和未来方向？","b":false,"xe":"How to use photography to present the achievements, challenges, and future direction of China's development?"},{"t":"p","x":"在今天的摄影教程中，我会结合我这几年创作的《不一样的中国》《车窗外的青藏铁路》《未完工住宅里的微光》《中国绿能》四组作品，谈谈我自己的一些尝试和思考。","b":false,"xe":"In today's photography tutorial, I'll discuss some of my own attempts and thoughts, drawing on four series I created over the past few years: \"A Different China\" (《不一样的中国》), \"The Qinghai-Tibet Railway Outside the Window\" (《车窗外的青藏铁路》), \"Glimmers in Unfinished Residences\" (《未完工住宅里的微光》), and \"China's Green Energy\" (《中国绿能》)."},{"t":"h","x":"视频","xe":"Video"},{"t":"bili","bv":"BV1oV4y1k79m","bpic":"bili-1","bt":"如何用摄影讲好中国故事？我的尝试和思考~"},{"t":"p","x":"这一篇是上面视频的完整图文整理。如何用风景摄影讲述中国故事？Thomas 结合近几年先后创作的四组作品——《不一样的中国》《车窗外的青藏铁路》《未完工住宅里的微光》《中国绿能》——把自己的尝试与思考一次讲透。下面配上视频关键帧截图，包括每组成员的介绍卡片，适合先看图理清脉络，再到视频里听完整讲述。","xe":"This is the fully illustrated companion to the video above. How do you tell China's stories through landscape photography? Drawing on four series created in recent years — A Different China, The Qinghai-Tibet Railway from the Train Window, Glimmers in Unfinished Homes, and China's Green Energy — Thomas shares his attempts and reflections in one pass. Keyframe screenshots are paired below, including the introduction card for each series; skim them for the framework, then hear the full telling in the video."},{"t":"p","x":"先看总览。这页目录卡截自视频开头，四组作品正好构成一条从风光到纪实的演进线，下文按顺序逐一展开。","xe":"Start with the overview: this contents card, captured at the opening of the video, lays out four series that trace an evolution from landscape toward documentary. Each is unpacked below."},{"t":"img","f":"v01","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"h","x":"01 为什么想讲中国故事","xe":"01 Why Tell China's Stories"},{"t":"p","x":"第一个原因来自 2019 年获国家地理奖项之后的反思。Thomas 前后去了四次格陵兰岛、累计待了半年，但他发现自己拍出来的视角更多仍是一个游客、一个旅行者的视角——这样的照片所呈现的格陵兰，可能并不是当地人最关心的问题，也不是他们最深切的体会（视频 0:30 处）。","xe":"The first reason is a reflection following his 2019 National Geographic award. Across four trips to Greenland totaling half a year, Thomas realized his perspective was still largely that of a tourist, a traveler — the Greenland such photos show may not be what local people care about most, nor their deepest experience of the place (at 0:30 in the video)."},{"t":"img","f":"v02","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"p","x":"第二个原因则是一个更实际的问题：拍好中国的风光，其实比拍好国外风光更难。冰岛、挪威、格陵兰大家没去过，拍出来自然觉得新鲜；而黄山、桂林、北京、上海我们都经常看到——怎么拍出特色，就成了一道必须回答的题（视频 0:57 处）。","xe":"The second reason is more practical: shooting China's landscapes well is actually harder than shooting foreign ones. Few people have been to Iceland, Norway or Greenland, so any image feels fresh; but Huangshan, Guilin, Beijing and Shanghai are sights we all know — making them look distinctive is a question that demands an answer (at 0:57 in the video)."},{"t":"h","x":"02 尝试一《不一样的中国》","xe":"02 Attempt 1: A Different China"},{"t":"p","x":"第一组作品用的是「西方流行的色彩风格」——也就是 Thomas 在国外练就的那套风光拍摄技术和手法，再加上无人机、卫星地图等现代化的科技探索手段，去呈现中国不一样的自然与城市风光。比如下面这张 2020 年拍摄的照片，当年很多人以为他在冰岛或挪威，其实场景就在西藏那曲：先通过卫星地图找到位置，前一天再用无人机探明行进的石头与河流走向，分析出第二天日出会很好看，才在凌晨四点多开始爬山，拍到这张作品（视频 1:44 处）。","xe":"The first series applies \"the color styles popular in the West\" — the landscape techniques Thomas honed abroad — together with modern tools like drones and satellite maps, to show a different side of China's nature and cities. The photo below, taken in 2020, was widely assumed to be Iceland or Norway; it is actually in Nagqu, Tibet. He first located the spot via satellite maps, scouted the stepping stones and the river's course with a drone the day before, judged that the next morning's sunrise would look stunning, then started climbing after four a.m. to capture it (at 1:44 in the video)."},{"t":"img","f":"v03","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"p","x":"无人机还能取到非常巧妙的角度。这张西藏丁青孜珠寺，就是用无人机避开寺庙大部分比较杂乱的地方，拍出一种天人合一的感觉（视频 2:20 处）。","xe":"A drone can also find remarkably clever angles. In this frame of Zizhu Monastery in Dengqen, Tibet, the drone sidesteps the monastery's more cluttered parts and distills a sense of unity between architecture and landscape (at 2:20 in the video)."},{"t":"img","f":"v04","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"p","x":"有些场景则靠「意识」。下面这张就在最火的新疆独库公路沿线，以前的摄影师大多没有这样的想法；Thomas 路过时发现，如果对画面做立体感和层次的塑造，再等到一列火车正好经过，就会有不一样的视觉呈现。此外，这组成员还从中国绘画中吸取调色的灵感和风格，并加入更多讲故事的视角——比如那张上海外滩的照片，既表现了这座城市的魔幻，也展现了当下年轻人边走路边看手机的生活状态（视频 2:33 处）。","xe":"Some scenes come down to awareness. The frame below lies along Xinjiang's wildly popular Duku Highway, where earlier photographers rarely saw the potential; passing by, Thomas realized that shaping depth and layers — and waiting for a train to pass at exactly the right moment — would produce a strikingly different image. The series also borrows color inspiration and style from Chinese painting, and weaves in more narrative viewpoints: his Bund photo, for instance, captures Shanghai's surreal glamour while also showing young people walking with eyes glued to their phones (at 2:33 in the video)."},{"t":"img","f":"v05","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"h","x":"03 尝试二《车窗外的青藏铁路》","xe":"03 Attempt 2: The Qinghai-Tibet Railway from the Train Window"},{"t":"p","x":"这组成员最大的缺陷，Thomas 自己看得很清楚：拍黄山、桂林、西藏的山水，和 100 年前、100 年后的中国没有多大区别，缺少「时代感」。怎么办？一是找到具有时代意义的景观，二是向纪实摄影吸取灵感，从个人化的视角、微观的视角去表现宏大的议题（视频 3:43 处）。","xe":"The first series' biggest shortcoming, by Thomas's own account, is that shooting the mountains of Huangshan, Guilin or Tibet looks little different in 100 years ago's China or 100 years hence — it lacks a sense of the era. The remedies: find landscapes that carry the marks of the times, and borrow from documentary photography, using personal, micro-level perspectives to speak to grand themes (at 3:43 in the video)."},{"t":"img","f":"v06","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"p","x":"2020 年年中，他在火车上发现车窗外的风景非常好看：除了茫茫的戈壁，还有风力发电机、太阳能电站、各种城市、工厂和乡村。中国现在是世界上火车客运里程最长的国家，只有在这里，才能通过火车这种现代交通工具看遍高原、湖泊、雪山、森林、大城市和小乡村。现代人不再把火车当作生活空间，多数人埋头看手机，于是他把视角聚焦到车窗之外——车窗外有时代的建筑，车窗内人物的服装、表情、行李也记录着中国的变化（视频 4:26 处）。","xe":"In mid-2020, on a train, he noticed how beautiful the view outside the window was: beyond the endless Gobi, wind turbines, solar plants, cities, factories and villages kept rolling by. China now has the world's longest passenger rail network — the only country where a train, that thoroughly modern conveyance, can carry you past plateaus, lakes, snow mountains, forests, metropolises and hamlets alike. Modern riders no longer treat the train as living space; most stare at their phones. So Thomas focused his lens outside the window — era-defining buildings outside, and inside, passengers' clothing, expressions and luggage recording a changing China (at 4:26 in the video)."},{"t":"p","x":"摄影不同于视频的地方，是照片可以被凝视——观者可以用几十秒、一分钟，静静欣赏那千分之一秒稍纵即逝的瞬间。所以他给每张照片都埋藏了大量细节：下面这张，初看是林芝桃花之美，再看前景那排「碍眼」的塑料瓶——矿泉水瓶、各种饮料瓶还有杯子——其实是故意设置的，一张小桌子正体现了消费社会里人们对「喝什么」的丰富选择；远处雪山上高高的电塔，则属于藏东输电工程，记录着西藏社会与生活的变化（视频 5:52 处）。","xe":"Where photography differs from video is that a still image can be gazed at — viewers can spend thirty seconds or a minute quietly savoring an instant that flashed by in a thousandth of a second. So he buries abundant details in every frame: in the photo below, you first see the beauty of Nyingchi's peach blossoms, then the \"eyesore\" row of plastic bottles in the foreground — water bottles, soft-drink bottles, cups — a deliberate setup, for that little table perfectly captures the abundant choices of a consumer society; and the tall transmission towers on the distant snow mountains belong to eastern Tibet's power grid, recording the change in Tibetan society and daily life (at 5:52 in the video)."},{"t":"img","f":"v07","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"p","x":"另一张名为《天路》：把中国内地和西藏连接起来的，不光有我们所坐的火车，还有窗外的青藏公路，以及输油管、光缆、电线等非常多的线路，紧紧连在一起。拉林铁路开通第二天，他立马飞过去订了张商务座，正好记录下一家西藏人——老爷爷满面沧桑，见证了西藏的历史发展；窗外是传统的高原集市，车厢里是崭新的复兴号动车组。他还拍了很多人物，比如拉萨当地大学的教师，窗外是传统牧民的房屋——通过科技与经济的发展，人们的生活方式有了更多选择（视频 6:45 处）。","xe":"Another frame, \"Roads to the Sky\": what bind inland China and Tibet together are not only the train he rides, but the Qinghai-Tibet highway outside the window, plus oil pipelines, fiber-optic cables, power lines — countless threads pulled tight. On the second day of the Lhasa-Nyingchi railway's opening he flew straight there and booked a business seat, recording a Tibetan family — the grandfather, face full of hard-won years, a witness to Tibet's modern history; outside, a traditional highland market, inside, a brand-new Fuxing EMU. He also photographed many people, among them a university teacher in Lhasa framed against a traditional herder's house — as technology and the economy develop, life offers more choices (at 6:45 in the video)."},{"t":"img","f":"v08","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"img","f":"v09","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"h","x":"04 尝试三《未完工住宅里的微光》","xe":"04 Attempt 3: Glimmers in Unfinished Homes"},{"t":"p","x":"变化中的中国除了成就，也遇到过问题——这些问题会不会给未来的发展、给其他发展中国家带来启发？这就是去年这组成员的拍摄缘起。Thomas 从很多艺术摄影中吸取灵感，整组作品都取黑夜的环境，用黑夜里的微光去展现业主们在困难的环境下仍在努力生活、努力让事情得到解决的状态，也更容易引起大家的共情（视频 8:23 处）。","xe":"A changing China has known achievements but also problems — and could those problems offer lessons for the future, and for other developing countries? That question spawned last year's series. Drawing on art photography, Thomas shot the entire series at night, using faint glimmers in the darkness to show homeowners still living with determination and working toward resolution in difficult circumstances — an approach that readily evokes empathy (at 8:23 in the video)."},{"t":"img","f":"v10","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"p","x":"这组作品在国内引起了大量传播。在许多媒体的报道和关注之下，他拍摄的西安易合坊项目在去年底正式交房——虽然仍有续建费的纠纷，但至少有了解决方案，已经算是比较好的结果。这组作品也获得了今年世界新闻摄影奖（荷赛）的奖项（视频 9:22 处）。","xe":"The series spread widely at home. Amid extensive media coverage, Yihefang — the Xi'an project he photographed — was officially handed over to buyers at the end of last year; disputes over completion fees remain, but a solution now exists, which is already a good outcome. The series also won a 2023 World Press Photo award (at 9:22 in the video)."},{"t":"p","x":"很多人好奇：应不应该把这些故事放到国外的语境下去说和探讨？Thomas 认为有必要。真实发生的事件如果不是非常敏感的议题，若我们自己的客观中立报道不去叙述，舆论场就很可能被阴谋论或刻意带节奏的不怀好意的力量占据。而由自己来陈述，我们手里是第一手资料，拥有整个话语的定义权和解释权——他在接受国外媒体采访、撰写图片注释时，就能把事情的来龙去脉讲清楚，防止误解。当然，前提一定是真实客观的立场（视频 9:52 处）。","xe":"Many wonder: should such stories be told and debated in an international context? Thomas believes yes. For real events that are not highly sensitive, if our own objective, neutral reporting stays silent, the discourse risks being captured by conspiracy theories or bad-faith actors stirring the pot. When we tell it ourselves, we hold first-hand material and the power to define and interpret the narrative — in interviews with foreign media and in captions, he can lay out the full story and forestall misunderstanding. The precondition, of course, is a truthful and objective standpoint (at 9:52 in the video)."},{"t":"img","f":"v11","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"h","x":"05 尝试四《中国绿能》与未来方向","xe":"05 Attempt 4: China's Green Energy and the Road Ahead"},{"t":"p","x":"与西方交流时会发现分歧，但能不能求同存异、找到共同点？全球气候变暖与环境危机，让全人类都关注可持续发展；在这个话题之下，中国和欧洲、中国和美国都可以找到共同立场，基于共同点不断沟通、慢慢消除误解，对构建人类命运共同体非常有帮助。而中国在可持续发展领域其实非常领先：光伏、特高压输电、电动车等，从发电端到输电端到用电端形成了一套完整的解决方案，各行业都有领先的技术和企业（视频 11:31 处）。","xe":"Talking with the West reveals disagreements — but can we seek common ground while reserving differences? Global warming and the environmental crisis have made sustainability a universal concern, and under that topic China, Europe and the United States can find shared positions. Building communication on those commonalities and gradually dissolving misunderstanding helps, ultimately, toward a shared future for mankind. And China is genuinely ahead in this field: solar power, ultra-high-voltage transmission, electric vehicles — from generation to transmission to consumption, a complete solution has taken shape, with leading technologies and companies across these industries (at 11:31 in the video)."},{"t":"img","f":"v12","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"p","x":"所以今年的这组《中国绿能》，希望透过照片与短视频等多种媒介，深入调查并呈现国家在可持续发展领域的「中国方案」，探索这些方案对工业产业、当地居民生活、环境和本地社区的影响。比如下面这张敦煌的光热发电站，前景特意找到沙漠中的植物：一方面表现当地的环境，另一方面，沙漠植物的光合作用与人类对光的利用，其实是一脉相承的。整组作品会在陆续拍摄之中，采用深入调查结合可视化图片的方式完成（视频 12:59 处）。","xe":"So this year's China's Green Energy series aims, through photos and short videos together, to investigate and present the \"China solution\" in sustainability in depth, exploring how these projects affect industry, residents' lives, the environment and local communities. In the frame below of the Dunhuang concentrated solar power station, desert plants were deliberately chosen for the foreground: they show the local environment, and they echo a lineage — photosynthesis in desert flora and humanity's harnessing of light are, in essence, the same story. The series, still being shot piece by piece, will combine in-depth reporting with visualized imagery (at 12:59 in the video)."},{"t":"img","f":"v13","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"img","f":"v14","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"quote","x":"1. 拍自己的国家反而更难：游客视角不够，要找到有时代意义的景观，用个人化、微观的视角表现宏大议题；2. 科技手段是新型风光的钥匙——卫星地图选点、无人机探路与取景、长焦压缩，都能让熟悉的风景焕然一新；3. 照片可以被凝视：往画面里埋藏细节，让观者值得用一分钟去读千分之一秒；4. 讲中国故事要成就、问题、未来并重，以真实客观为前提，用第一手资料掌握话语的定义权与解释权。","xe":"1. Shooting your own country is the harder task: a tourist's eye is not enough — seek out landscapes that carry the marks of the era, and address grand themes through personal, micro-level perspectives; 2. Technology is the key to a new kind of landscape photography — satellite maps for scouting, drones for access and angles, telephoto compression — all can make familiar scenery fresh again; 3. A photograph can be gazed upon: bury details in the frame so viewers find a minute's worth of reading in a thousandth of a second; 4. Tell China's stories with achievements, problems and the future in equal measure, grounded in truth and objectivity, holding the power to define the narrative with first-hand material."},{"t":"h","x":"高清视频：","xe":"HD video:"},{"t":"p","x":"https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1oV4y1k79m/","b":false,"xe":"https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1oV4y1k79m/"}],"titleEn":"How to Tell Chinese Stories with Photography? My Attempts and Thoughts~"}