Spring Afternoon at the Fishing Platform

Author: Yu Dafu, written by Yu Dafu, photography by Wang Rending et al
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: At Dàyǎ Cultural Communication Company, a group of idealistic photographic artists quietly gathered. Some remained rooted in their local areas, while others ventured far away, using light, shadow, color, and hues to express their own reflections on history. Some of them have already achieved remarkable success and have been invited to hold photography exhibitions in the headquarters of the United Nations. Now, they pursue the footsteps of some famous writers of modern and contemporary times, such as Zhu Ziqing, Xu Zhimo, Eileen Chang, Yu Dafu, Shi Tiesheng, and Yu Qiuji, from Beijing to Shanghai, from Lushan to West Lake, from Balindong to Yaotai, and even to Paris and Venice. When these writers meticulously depict mountains, rivers, grass, and trees, cities, and rural landscapes in their prose, pouring their feelings about lotus pond under moonlight and sunrise over Mount Tai into their own words, the photographers revisit these scenes through their lenses, combining text and images in a uniquely special way. The "Modern and Contemporary Famous Writers' Travel Essays and Photography Treasury Series" presented to readers boasts a fresh visual effect. This innovation is enough for us to proudly declare that the banner of the era of images and text has been raised. Of course, it is also ancient—it has a solid historical foundation in the relationship between paintings and inscriptions in literati art during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Once, reading images was seen as indicative of immaturity in thought, superficiality in emotion, and restlessness in the soul. Yet, it is precisely in reading images that we discover an undimmed childlike innocence, lingering vitality, and an alert sensibility. Images and text are different from illustrations—in illustrated books, images are mere embellishments of the text and are closely tied to it. However, for books that combine images and text, the image forms its own system, echoing both backward and forward; it is possessed by the text, yet repeatedly slips out from the gaps in the words, directly showing its light, shadow, and color to the world, and drawing the text to reclaim it once more.