Every time, I wonder how they stepped out of the ordinary road step by step and became what they are now.
The photographer I want to talk about today:
Deputy Secretary General of Xiamen Young Photographers Association
Co-founder and Vice President of Fujian Outdoor Sports Association
Chief Planning Director of Food Documentary
Founder of Xia Jian Studio
He is Wu.
Maybe you don't care here. Yes, Gezi has introduced so many excellent photographers. They are so excellent that it is natural to put any label halo on them.
However, with so many titles, he is the youngest photographer in the grid. He was less than 18 when he joined the business last year.
I guess I'm not the only one who's shocked. How did he achieve these achievements at such a young age? What are some unknown stories about him?
So I decided to see him instead of you.
The moment I saw Wu, I really wanted to doubt the world.
Probably because I am shallow and have never seen such an experienced face as 18 years old.
My intuition tells me that this is a person who has stories and can tell stories.
This makes me feel that communication is much more practical.
Unlike the works of most grid photographers, Dong Jun's works are almost documentary photography.
There is a calmness and tension in his works that is out of proportion to his age. Under the quiet appearance of freeze-frame, he always seems to be unable to conceal the impulse to speak. It fits my first impression of him.
This has to talk about his origins with photography.
Before he came into contact with photography, he was an activist who was keen on organizing activities. From school activities in middle schools to Pingtan International Cycling Open, the largest event in China with nearly 3,000 participants. In these large and small activities, he is an organizer who appears in front of the stage to plan the overall situation, and a responsible person and leader who can stand on the stage and say "thank you for your support and participation".
(photo by the old demon)
Running was originally just a way for Wu to constantly challenge himself, exercise himself and achieve self-breakthrough. But with the increase of activity experience, I am more and more familiar with and even aware of the various processes of activities. He found that because he tried his best to pursue perfection every time, neither the overall planning nor the details were enough to motivate him to pursue perfection.
I just feel something is missing.
A perfect activity, end, let go, it's all over.
Tired and tired, but better than lost.
No one knows better than himself how difficult it is to go on step by step. What others see is the flying scenery. As for whether you are tired by plane, it probably doesn't matter much.
Keep this man's well-known scenery, but also keep these unknown bitterness behind him. Wu believes that it is not enough to know all this, but to find a way to keep it.
Through photography.
But documentary photography is different from portrait photography. Portraits can try again and again, time, place, posture and mood can be flexible and changeable, and there are many opportunities.
And every moment in the activity belongs only to this moment. Once it's over, you can't come back.
This is the difficulty and charm of documentary photography.
In order to know more about the details of the event and know that the key nodes of the event can find the best seats, he often joins the team one week in advance. In case of large-scale activities, he will even start working and sleeping with the team half a month in advance, working and living together.
"We have to get to know each other so that they don't avoid the camera."
Winning the trust of the team and cultivating a sense of tacit understanding with the team are the main challenges for Wu to devote most of his energy to documentary photography. He wants to take the most authentic and natural photos, not stiff and unpretentious, as if the camera is nothing in front of them and can be penetrated by sight.
This is also the biggest inspiration that Wu Dong Jun got from the experience of his favorite photographer Pete Souza, who is Obama's chief White House photographer. Pete Souza can be affectionately called "a member of our family" by Obama. The president's trust in him and the intimate understanding between them are the real reasons for the birth of those good photos with interest in life. Don't bother, let yourself disappear in the background of the environment like a chameleon, which is also the highest state of activity photography that Dong Jun understands.
"A good photo lies in the depth of emotion, not the depth of field", which is his favorite sentence.
Once Dong Jun likes to do something, he will definitely play to the extreme.
Just like he has been taking every photo with his heart and doing everything with his heart.
If you have heard of "Homesickness of Overseas Students, Hometown Taste of Xiamen"
This food documentary, with 67 million hits, was received by Fujian Tourism Bureau just after its release. What you never expected was that this is a documentary debut initiated and planned by Dong Jun, who just came into contact with photography for less than two years.
What is even more incredible is that the average age of the team he leads is less than 19 years old, and 90% of them are students and friends who have no basis for documentary shooting, while the shooting time of the whole season and four episodes is only 10 days. Even the professional team feels that under such conditions, completing an episode is a complete merit.
The lack of experience and the limitation of shooting time did not become an obstacle to their pursuit of perfection in detail.
They even took a lot of time-lapse shots, even if three or four hours of squats were finally cut out, it would take 10 seconds.
In those days, Xiamen was cloudy for several days in a row. In order to pursue the effect in aerial photography, they will wait for the best flight time of the drone.
Under such conditions, he pursued such exquisiteness and handed in a complete answer sheet without even missing an episode.
The success of the documentary, the recognition of all parties, and the benefits and aura that followed did not shake his original intention.
His original intention is not only to record the ancient taste of Xiamen in the hearts of downstream children, but also to entrust one side with homesickness. More importantly, fewer and fewer young people are willing to inherit the craftsmanship of the older generation, and the hometown flavor is dying out step by step. He wants to leave these forever through images.
?
Dong Jun's private kitchens were born shortly after the documentary was released, because the documentary was more or less influenced and he liked cooking very much.
Just as he is serious about everything he likes, he is meticulous in private cuisine and strives for perfection in every detail.
He said that in order to study the doorway of frying steak, "more than 60 steaks were fried in two months". From the selection of ingredients to the final serving, every step is looking for the most exquisite treatment method.
Moreover, Dong Jun hopes to make more friends and share more life stories through delicious food. At this time, a small-scale family private kitchen sharing meeting is not enough to satisfy his current desire.
Also inspired by "Midnight Food Store", Dong Jun thinks that eating should be full of emotion and appreciate life, and should not be hastily solved or satisfied with a stylized menu.
So he set up a studio in Xiamen, a pop-up shop to meet you in Xiamen next month, and a private tailor's kitchen, where you can order special dishes or drinks by telling "Xiamen in your eyes" or "your story".
Here, there is no menu, no fixed chef, only people who listen to stories patiently.
It turns out that "you have a story and I have wine" is not just super-literary and fresh like a bard.
He said he would listen to 1000 stories in the mansion. Some of these stories may become future material, and some may guide future life in a deeper and longer time.
He is really the photographer who loves his hometown the most.
He is also the winner of life I have ever seen. He loves to toss but never fiddles.
The rain outside the window didn't stop, and the fog on the window glass made the streets of Greenwich Village look hazy and elegant. On the date, he said he wanted to have English afternoon tea, and I said yes.
I didn't expect this store to be so popular. In order to be on time, he came here half an hour early to wait in line for me.
This big boy just turned 18 years old and will graduate from high school in half a month. We look forward to your bright future.