海問

在有次評選會上，我驚異地看到了肖吉地先生關于“海”的攝影作品，映入眼球的那些照片讓我不知所云，隨后腦海里閃現出偉大詩人屈原《天問》中的許多詩句……頓時，我恍然大悟，啊，這不是“海問”嗎？

時過半年，肖先生要出本攝影集，并邀我寫個小序，我二話沒說，欣然滿口答應下來。不久他交給我70幅作品小樣，說是今年62歲，就出一本62幅作品的畫冊吧。我以為，人過甲子，卸甲耕海，回報自然，出本畫冊，理所當然。于是我和作者商量，把這些寶貝照片分成《海岸》、《海問》、《廊橋久夢》、《遠方》四個章節。所謂“海岸”實為畫冊的引言，空靈簡潔。有“因”的含義，有“海”“天”同工概念，也隱藏了攝影者“無為”哲學理想。

第二章節“海問”是本畫冊的主體，有諸多“果”的元素。它是人與海、人與物的關系，更是物與海的關系。這些作品，有典型的現代美學意義，如詩如歌，畫內畫外全是故事，讓人思考，讓人百思不解。不管您用什么方式解讀這些作品，都會有作者生活時代的影子，包括作者人生道路、經歷和思想、情感，時而童趣，時而暮舞，時而歡樂，時而悲傷，時而輝煌，時而滄桑……這類羅列也只不過是一般情況下對藝術作品的賞析和推理。然而最值得關注的是那些含蓄、荒誕、隱喻背后的說道，海究竟要問什么也就不言而喻了。

為了加固這個主題，作者調動了多種造型手段。但不管哪種都是嚴肅，認真的，原創性的。其一，抽象的純黑白影調體現了攝影經典語言獨特魅力。其二，長時間曝光，讓水上漂浮物隱去，加強了拍攝主體的凝固性，給人留下深刻視覺印象，獨立（孤獨）的物象（器物），成功地轉換成一種特定的語境。不僅如此，作者還采取文學和藝術里慣用的重復或是排比的表現形式，從而極大地加強類同物象的重量感，強烈的節奏給觀者留下了音符、音階、音節的天籟之聲。值得一提的是，作者不管用哪種形式和方法，始終把握了攝影的第一本質語言：客觀、真實。做到不擺、不導、不改，一氣呵成，難能可貴。更加體現出作者對攝影的自重、自強、自信、自律的信念。

第三和第四章節實際是一回事，只不過是一種傳統的編輯方式。第三章節說的廊橋夢，這個世界許多人的夢，更是中國人的久夢。長期生活在海邊的人們總有一種與海和諧相處的夙愿，毫無疑問，廊橋即是古今中外最好的對話、交流、聯系模式。

第四章節“遠方”，表達的是一個“藍色”大符號（即世界）的概念，它是人類大都能理解的“世界語”，顯然燈塔是這個“世界語”的響亮強音。

現在似乎可以把第九屆中國攝影金像獎評委評語借拿過來，以示權威人士對他作品的肯定：“肖吉地的作品以靜謐、柔美、簡潔、空靈之美，贏得了評委們的認可。統一的黑白色調，宛如作者心中流淌的歲月訴說，慢門拍攝的流動之水，似霧似云，如夢如幻，營造出水墨畫般的意境，格調清新而高雅，美在意境，美在氣度。肖吉地作品中的海，景致遼遠，靜若止水；作品中的馬，情致高潔，天地精靈。他拍攝的是景與物，敞開的是心與境。”

謹以為序。

2012年初冬于京城東郊

QUESTIONING THE SEA

Once at a meeting，I was surprised to see Mr. Xiao’s photographs about sea which at first made me a little confused but soon reminded me of the poetry “questioning the sky” by the famous Chinese poet Quyuan. Suddenly，I understood that the photographs delivered the meaning which is questioning the sea.

Half a year later，Mr. Xiao asked me to write a preface for his photograph album to be published. I readily agreed with no doubt. Later，he gave me 70 photographs and said he wanted to publish a photo album with 62 photographs for his 62 years old. I thought it was a good idea for a man over 60，who was retired to publish such a photo album，which came from nature and gave back to it. So I discussed with the author to divide these photographs into four chapters called seacoast，questioning the sea，long dream in bridge，remote area. Being the introduction of the album，the first chapter，which is ethereal and concise，carries the meaning of cause and also the concept of sea and sky. At the same time，it implies the philosophy ideal “non-action” of the photographer.

The second chapter is the main part of the book，containing the factors of the result. It shows not only the relationships between human and sea，human and things，but also things and sea. These works，telling stories in and out of the pictures，have typical modern aesthetics meaning，is like poem and song，making the readers think but can’t draw a certain conclusion. There are reflections of the era when the author lives，including his life，experiences，thinking and emotions，no matter in which way one comprehends. The pictures are the mixture of childishness and mature，glum and glee，glorious and vicissitudes. Except the descriptions above，which are the common appreciation and illation，the meanings behind the indirect，absurd and allusive pictures，which answer the questions of the sea，deserve the highly attention.

In order to reinforce the subject，Mr. Xiao uses several modeling methods. All of them are solemn，serious and original. Firstly，the abstract black-and-white images represent the unique charm of photographic language. Secondly，the longtime exposure，which makes the floater faded out，intensifies the solidification of the subject，giving us deep impression. The lonely obstacles successfully transfer into the certain context. Moreover，the reduplicated and parallel structures that the author uses，usual tactics in art，strengthen the weight of the image. And these methods show the strong rhythm that leaves us musical note，syllable，gamut which seem to be the sound from heaven. What is more，essential language of the photography which are objective and real are always stuck to in any above ways. It is commendable that the photographer takes pictures without setting up，revising and PS. This represents the author’s faith in photograph which is Self-respect，self-reliance，self-esteem and self-control.Chapter Ⅲ and chapter Ⅳ are nearly the same，but divided into two parts because of the traditional way of edit. The third chapter says the dream in the covered bridge. It is the dream not only for people all over the world，but also t for the Chinese that live harmonious with sea. With no doubt，the covered bridge is the best approach for people at all times and in all countries.

The fourth chapter，remote area，expresses the concept of the big blue symbol （the world），which is the language for people all over the world.

Obviously，the lighthouse stands for the strong voice of that language.Now，I want to quote the comment from the judges in the 9th International Photography Awards，which reflects the endorsement of the authorities. They said，the works of Mr. Xiao win the recognition of the judges，because they are quiet，gentle，ethereal and concise. The black-and-white image is like the narration of the past time the author underwent. The slow speed synchronization made the flowing water like cloud like mist，like dream faraway，creating the mood as Chinese panting. The fresh and elegant style creates the beauty in mood and generosity.

The sea in Mr. Xiao’s works is vast and still，the horse is noble and spiritual. What he shoots are landscapes and objects but what he opens are minds and sprites.

Chen Changfen

early winter of 2012 in Beijing suburb