介绍:
Yann Layma first came to China in the early 1980s when the country looked very different from today. He came back countless times and recorded what he saw with his camera.
Layma began his photography career in China in 1985 when he was 22 years old. Thirty years passed and among all the changes that have taken place, Layma says it is the people that have changed the most.
"Now Chinese people are very open to foreigners, very open to new world. Chinese people are right to be proud of globalization, to be part of global culture. I think it's a very nice thing. I think the envolving of China is a very nice thing and very important to global balance."
Chinese readers can easily find their collective memories in Layma's latest photo album, China in Yesterday, hitting bookshelves in the country.
Apart from the city life, Layma constantly recorded the life of minority groups. He went to the villages of the Dong people in the southwest four times during the course of one year.
Layma says he tried his best to record life in a faithful and universal manner.
"I tried to be very objective, my work is to study hard, photography, and study China, and to walk around, just to recognize true values, which are not belonging to me. I very seldom put myself into photograph. I want it to be very objective, so if you look at these pictures. It is not my point of view, I believe, it is the international culture of photography. Photography is a world language that everybody on this world can understand, It's silent, but it's beyond the words, it's a language itself."
His friend, art manager Na Risong echoes this view, saying when it comes to photography, Layma's nationality is almost irrelevant.
"It does not mean he sees China differently from Chinese people. Seriously, I cannot see anything like that. He is just so good at it. That is it."
But it is hard to argue that this is the case for every photographer. Like many other art forms, photography is engraved with the values and experiences of its creator.
Layma says for him, being objective is paramount.
"It's better to be objective, but a lot of photographers say if you are too close it's not good if you are too far, it's not good. You have to find the right distance with your story."
When Layma worked along China's coastline in the 1990s, professional photography was in its heyday. He could earn 300-thousand yuan from a single album at that time. Of course it is not an easy job. Layma says he took 10-thousand photos and picked 80 for one album.
The photographer suffered severe depression in the early 2000s, but he never gave up his pursuit.
Layma says being part of the changes in China is like a dream comes true.
"Therefore I am more than satisfied with my life, because it is unique, because it is very rich of emotions, experiences, and meeting with nice people. I love China for many reasons. The more I know China, the more I love China."
Layma says amid the rise of the Internet, photography publications are becoming something of the past. But it is safe to say with his faithful and insightful records of China, his works will never lose their glow.
For Studio+, I'm Xufei.
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