There was a documentary movie showed in SCAD Fash on this Thursday called The True Cost. It also could be found on Netflex and definitely worth watching. It talked about the fast fashion issue in fashion industry. I was really impressed about the environmental problems and health problems and labor problems in fashion industry, especially in the developing countries like India or China. These problems do not only exist in fashion industry, but also appear in many other industries like electronics or paper industry.

We may spend hundreds or thousands dollar on food, clothes and many other products each year, but not many people, including me, aware of where they are come from or who made them and how people’s life affected. That is also why the director Andrew Morgan making this film. The problems he discovered in this film are exactly what confusing me about the purpose of life. Both of us are trying to find out the right questions with our cameras.

I have lived in China for over 20 years. When living overseas and be away from home, I got chances to start thinking what China is and what problems Chinese people are facing. Of course I love China and I wish China will become better, hopefully much better. That is why I have to point out these problems. Statistics shows that the food we produced are just enough for the whole country, but there are still a great number of people are suffering from hunger. Also, the numbers of houses we have built today are much more than that twenty years ago, however, everyone feels that it is harder to buy a house due the price has increased dramatically. During the past two decades, the technology has developed greatly, the city I lived in looks completely different now. People produced much more products than why their needs and they are supposed to have a better life and be much happier than two decades. Surprisingly, the answer is negative. 

Moreover, I find these problems are not only appearing in China, they exist everywhere in human society in different forms. We may successfully eliminate hunger in most cities or maybe a whole country, but we still cannot get rid of hunger globally. Not because we are not able to produce enough food. Human has spent trillions of dollars on weapons development, outer space discovering, but some of us still suffering hunger and lacking of shelter. I think this is incredible.

I watched a documentary film this week named “Many lives of William Klein”. William Klein, born in New York in 1928, is a great photographer, painter and filmmaker. He is one of the pioneers of the street photographers.

Klein was first educated with painting in France and soon jumped in photography. In 1954, he started shooting street photos in his hometown New York. It is interesting that many of his street work looked like staged photos. In these photos, everyone was looking at different direction. Some looked into the camera and may wonder what was going on. Some people looked at the people that camera pointing at, and try to figure out what the photographer was shooting at. Most of Klein’s street photographs include people or human figures in frames. Unlike another great pioneer of street photography Henri Cartier-Bresson, who always pursued the decisive moment patiently, Klein usually engaged to some extent with the people he photographed. You can tell that people in frames were aware of him. Their behaviors or expressions may be affected. He even asked them to pose for him. One of his famous work about a boy pointing the camera with a gun was acutely posed shot, he explained in the movie.  

 

William also applied his street style to his fashion work successfully. Either using a telephoto lens or wide angel lens or combining light painting with fashion shoot, or even bringing girls to streets, he did many experimentations and created very unique and iconic fashion photos. William claimed that he could do what ever he wants in fashion shooting was because he was not a fashion photographer. I totally agree with him. Sometimes taking pictures an amateur may have less limitation or distracting thoughts.

Personally, I find taking pictures on streets could be challenging. Sometimes I felt not safe while waking in an unfamiliar area. I have to be very careful to avoid potential threat. A few days ago when exploring some places in Atlanta, I was followed by a mad guy in an empty suburb street for almost a mile until I found a gas station as a shelter. Another problem is that I missed a lot of great moments when people passing by me. I did not hold up my camera because I was afraid to get into trouble because I don’t have a layer. When I asked people to take pictures of them, I was asked questions and the moments and feeling had gone. On the other hand, I think William handled these very well. He is a fearless photographer. A lot of times he just aimed his camera directly toward people on streets. He even took many street photos in some areas with tough neighborhood. I believe he get through these with his courage and humor.

Many photographers regard William as their inspiration, including Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama. William’s photos are experimental and full of revolt. He was considered as one of the thirty most influential photographers in history.

This time I would like to talk about one photograph taken by David Burdeny, a Canada photographer well known by his black and white landscapes. In the first class of Black and white craft, all students are asked to chose three favorite photos of three different photographers from a list about 500 photographers. It was interesting that three out of five students, including me, picked the same photographer, and the same photo as our favorite.

This is a long exposure landscape of a lake with a few poles standing in the water. The image is clean. It is so simple and so powerful. Actually, at first sight of this photo, my eyes are attracted by the vast world in the image immediately. One moment I felt like my mind had been taken away from the real world where was complex and full of duties, to the edge of the world, a quiet and lonely place. The square frame of this black and white landscape is like a small window on a wall, from where you can get a glimpse of a wonder world and get some fresh air.

Photographers have to previse the final image when shooting long exposure photos, as they are not able to be seen by our eyes. In other words, through long exposure, photographers are able to create scenes that we could not see in the real world. In this case, photos are not used to record or represent the reality but more like paintings to some extent. Objects or human figures may be used as elements of the “painting” to compose the scenes in photographer’s mind.

Another thing interests me is that how can three out of five students picked the same photo from a list of 500 photographers. I mean there are a lot of great photographers in the list may have higher achievement, but we still chose David Burdeny’s work. In his photo, there must be something caused common resonance. Is it because this photo creates a world where we can escape from the hustle and bustle? Or it is because it makes viewers recalling places or feelings somewhere in their memories.

Why do you take photos?

After taking photos for several years, I became more confused about photography. “Why do you take photos?” I asked myself. There are countless photos on the Internet and millions of pictures been taken every single day. As Susan Sontag said, “The inventory started in 1839 and since then just about everything has been photographed, or so it seems.” If that’s true, why do you still taking photos? What is the difference you can make?

Well, my answer is “I take photos because I’m thinking. I kept taking photos because I have not find the answer.”  Regardless the final image, by taking photos I’m searching for the answer of who am I, where am I, and the meaning of what I am doing.  

I’ve been thinking these questions for many years. Before high school I was just doing what I was told to do, studying hard and having a goal of becoming to a scientist in the future. Then I took a year off and travelled around and spent some time reading. During that period, for the first time I was thinking about the meaning of my life. Sometimes I felt I found a clue but most time I was in confusion. 

Obviously, I’m not a good writer. If I can write, I will write what I feel. If I can paint, I will paint it what I saw. Unfortunately, taking photos is the only way I can record my feeling or express myself, so camera is my best friend. I believe that if I happened to capture a photo that toughed me, at least there will be a small amount of people around the world who have similar experience resonate bout it.

From Australia to China, then to America, I kept searching the answer, and I will keep taking photos.