青年獨立工匠

A Spoonful of Sugar Changes Urban Lifestyle

用壹勺子糖改變城市生活方式

“A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” is one sentence of the lyrics from an old American movie Mary Poppins. Designer Linlin gets inspirations from here and names her café as “A Spoonful of Sugar”. She hopes this spoonful of sugar can let people’s life slow down.

A Spoonful of Sugar is an independent café that promotes the idea of ecological and environmental protection. Linlin， the owner and designer， changes the dangerous building of Beijing Relay Factory into a two-layer ecological space within 11 months by redesign and reinforcement with environmental friendly materials. The top of the café is an ecological yard planted with various herbs and food like mint and basil. Linlin said that， this is a small food cycle. What we eat at the café are mostly from the yard and the leftovers would become the fertilizer for the yard after processing. The design of the café is very simple that it does not take away the charm of an old house at Hutong but also leaves no impression of an old and broken building. There are not many seats in the café and curtain space is kept among them， which in this way the designer hopes everyone can have their own little space. Linlin told us that， when people sit in the ecological yard and see around the scenery of Hutong at 4 or 5 p.m. at dusk， they can feel quietness and be comfortable no matter how noisy the outside is and also they can enjoy the spoonful of sugar.

\"A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.\"這是一部美國老電影《歡樂滿人間》的一句歌詞，設計師Linlin在這里獲取靈感，為自己的咖啡館取名為“壹勺子糖”，她希望這一勺子糖，能讓人的生活慢下來。

壹勺子糖是一家推廣生態(tài)環(huán)保概念的獨立咖啡館。店主兼設計師Linlin把舊的北京繼電器廠這棟危樓，花十一個月的時間，用大量回收環(huán)保材料，重新設計加固，打造成一個兩層的生態(tài)空間?？Х瑞^的頂層是一個環(huán)保生態(tài)小院，里面種滿了像薄荷、羅勒等各種香草和食物原料。Linlin說，這是一個小型的食物鏈，我們在咖啡館里吃的東西，很多原料都來自生態(tài)小院，而我們所吃剩的食物，會經(jīng)過加工變成生態(tài)小院的肥料。咖啡館的設計非常簡約，沒有奪去胡同舊房子的韻味，也沒有讓人產(chǎn)生破舊的印象。店里的座位不多，座位與座位之間保持有一定的距離，設計師希望每個人在這里都能擁有屬于自己的一個小空間。Linlin告訴我們，傍晚四五點鐘的時候，坐在生態(tài)小院里，環(huán)視胡同周圍的景象，不管外界多吵鬧，小院里都是非常安靜而舒服的，在這里你能感受到那一勺子糖。

The Spoonful of Sugar Café was in 798 Art Center at first when Linlin needed a place to show the idea of ecological and environmental protection and a platform for designer and cook to cooperate cross-broadly. But later because of the disagreement with her partner， she chose the building of Beijing Relay Factory and then turned to Hutong to create A Spoonful of Sugar. From Linlin’s perspective， food is an art that it cannot be done only by one profession. The cooperation between designer and cook can raise the level of food. Pol is the Spanish chef there， who cooks new café cuisine with both Eastern and Western style， like a cute sandwich called “New Chick Uptown” and “Dark Chocolate with Er Guo Tou”， by using local materials and focusing on Hutong’s taste in national standard.

Linlin said that， “I want to attract people to come here and know this kind of lifestyle. I must have a spoonful of sugar and tasted food and drink. I should live up to myself and others.” The lifestyle she talked about is the idea of ecological and environmental protection. Linlin said that， the stores which popularizing ecological concept nowadays are neither too high-end to invite people in nor too original to be clean. She wants to convey more ideas about ecology and environment to the public， but she does not like to preach and she prefers to create an environment that can let consumers feel ecology themselves. Linlin provides free water and Wi-Fi in the café and customers can stay there quietly and comfortably for couple of hours whatever work or relax. She said that， if customers can take away some ideas of environmental protection with them when leaving， then her target is achieved. Besides， Linlin also carries out some interesting lectures and activities related to ecology and environment in the café. She hopes this spoonful of sugar can let people’s life slow down and find new urban lifestyle.

壹勺子糖咖啡館一開始是在798，當時Linlin想要一個空間來展現(xiàn)生態(tài)環(huán)保的理念，一個平臺讓設計師跟廚師進行跨界合作。后來由于和合作伙伴的理念出現(xiàn)分歧，Linlin在看上北京繼電器廠這棟樓以后，決定轉而投入胡同里，打造新的壹勺子糖。在Linlin看來，美食是一門藝術，一個食物或一種食材，是不能光靠一種職業(yè)來完成的，設計師與廚師的跨界合作，能讓美食提升到另一個境界。Pol是店里的西班牙大廚，他會用一些本土化的食材，胡同的味道，結合國際化的標準，打造出從“仲夏妹妹”這樣俏皮可愛的三明治到“二鍋頭酒心巧克力”這類中西合璧的新式咖啡館料理。

Linlin說：“我要吸引別人進來，要讓別人了解這種生活方式，我一定要有一勺子糖，我的東西要好吃，要好喝，我要對得起自己，對得起別人?！?Linlin口中的生活方式就是她的店所推崇的環(huán)保生態(tài)理念。Linlin說，現(xiàn)在一些推行生態(tài)理念的店，要么做得太高端，別人不敢進去，要么做得太原生態(tài)，給人一種不干凈的感覺。她希望向大眾傳達更多的生態(tài)環(huán)保的意識，但她不喜歡說教，她更希望能給客人們營造出一個自主體驗到生態(tài)環(huán)保意識的環(huán)境。Linlin在店里為客人提供了免費的水和Wi-Fi，讓客人無論是工作還是休閑，都可以安靜舒適地待上幾個小時。她說，如果客人離開的時候，能帶走一些環(huán)保意識，并以他的方式去實現(xiàn)這些意識，那她的目的也就達到了。除此以外，Linlin還經(jīng)常在咖啡館里舉辦一些有意思的環(huán)保生態(tài)講座和活動，她希望這一勺子糖能讓人的生活慢下來，找到新的城市生活方式。

Li bin： On the Way to be Independent

李斌

Li bin， is almost 40 years old， he spent several years on documentary making， at the beginning， he worked in Nanyang TV station， shoot several feature films for 16 years. Later on， he quit his job to become an independent documentary maker and enjoyed a little fame.

It’s not that difficult for him to make this decision， “I choose to be independent at the best time.”maybe to be independent is always what he wants， the most important reason for quitting the job in the TV Station is that he needs more freedom.Li Bin said， when he shoot films at the TV station， he can’t fully express himself， sometimes， the film will be reedit to be a totally different thing. At that time， he joined a South-to-North Water Diversion Project and shoots a documentary to show the water shortage situation， but in the end， singing the praise for the government became the main theme. Li bin was very angry about that which made him decide to be an independent documentary film maker.

李斌，年屆四十，從事紀錄片拍攝已有些年頭，一開始，他在南陽電視臺工作，拍專題片，做調(diào)查報道，一拍就是16年。后來，他從體制內(nèi)走出，成為了獨立紀錄片工作者，并且已經(jīng)在業(yè)界小有名氣。

李斌的獨立之路開始得不徘徊也不糾結，“當時決定自己做紀錄片，是在一個天時地利人和的時機做下這樣的決定”。也許“獨立”這種因子一直就在他的體內(nèi)，不喜歡被束縛和約束成為他離開電視臺的重要原因。李斌說，當時做調(diào)查片子的時候，總是不能完整地表達自己的想法，甚至成片出來，早已是面目全非，這樣的事情讓他感到在電視臺繼續(xù)工作下去沒有太大意義。那時候他曾配合南水北調(diào)工程項目拍了一部叫做“那山、那人、那水”的紀錄片來反映當時農(nóng)民常年缺水的狀況，但是到最后卻被改成了一部歌功頌德的片子，這讓李斌非常氣憤，之后他便開始嘗試著自己投資拍短片和紀錄片。直到“遠去的家園”這部片子的誕生，徹底讓李斌走上了他的獨立之路。帶著這部片子，他參加了廣州紀錄片大會的國際預售，當時有許多國內(nèi)以及國外的電視臺在場，這部紀錄片在會場引起了很大的轟動，很多國外電視臺都表示了強烈的興趣。這次預售的成功，給了李斌一個信心，自己獨立拍片可以通過另外的方式得到認可和展映，而這樣的片子在電視臺是根本沒辦法做的。看到獨立之路的曙光，李斌從電視臺辭職，開啟了獨立紀錄片的旅程。

Although it is not easy， Li bin enjoyed the freedom and happiness to be independent. A French writer used to define life as “existence” and “non-exististence”， the latter one means that your life is not stable and full of possibilities. You never know that will happen every next second. And the great happiness to be an independent documentary maker is this possibility. You are just a recorder to wait for your brilliant stories.

The explore of possibilities made him so obsessed with documentary， his passion about it bring him great fame home and abroad. Another important motivation to be independent documentary film maker is that he hope the world be better through his film. Most his films are about grass-roots. He hopes to help the poor by reflecting their lives in the documentary.

盡管有艱辛，但是李斌享受在獨立紀錄片道路上的那種自由和快樂。一個法國作家曾將人的生活分成“有所在”和“無所在”的生活，所謂“有所在”，就是人的生活軌跡是既定的，你每天早上打開門，就知道自己該往哪個方向走，要去哪里，做什么事，比如起床、上班、回家，這樣的動作你可能天天都在做，生活軌跡是固定的一條線；而“無所在”的生活就是你每天在打開門的一瞬間，完全不知道下一秒會發(fā)生什么，生活充滿了無數(shù)的可能性和未知。李斌在獨立紀錄片的世界里感受到的最大的快樂，就來自于那種“無所在”的狀態(tài)，“拍攝紀錄片最大的樂趣，就在于你永遠不知道下一秒會發(fā)生什么，你只是生活的第三只眼，故事的走向和發(fā)展永遠無法預料，你就是等在那里，期待無數(shù)的可能性?！?/p>

這種未知的探索讓李斌癡迷于紀錄片的拍攝，而熱情和認真也讓他贏得了諸多國內(nèi)外的殊榮。除了心底對于生活和紀錄片的那份熱愛，能夠通過鏡頭來讓別人的生活和我們的世界變得好一點也是他在獨立紀錄片的路上越走越遠的重要動力。李斌的片子大多關注底層人民的生存、生活狀態(tài)，從“麥子黃了”到目前的紀錄片連續(xù)劇系列“針灸”都表達了他對于弱勢群體的關懷，紀錄他們的生活來幫助他們表達沒有被聽到的訴求?！拔磥砦蚁胛疫€是會繼續(xù)為底層人民說話，拍他們的生活，因為我也是他們中的一分子，關注他們也是關注我自己?！本拖駴]有生活的作家很難寫出真切的好文章，李斌將自己的鏡頭對準底層人民也來自于內(nèi)心對他們的一種真切、深遠的情懷。

But life is like that， except your emotions， you have to face the reality which may be difficult. Documentary is still not that popular in China， there are a lot of limitations including investment， production and post-production etc.

Li bin said， actually， there should not be investment for independent film maker， because in this way， the director will not suffer the pressure and limitation. Not only that， the documentary practice should also be very independent to fully express the director’s idea. This “independence” and “market “are always contradicted to each other.

This contradiction becomes the great challenge for independent documentary film maker. How to find the balance is what Li bin is doing right now. He is trying to find a way to make independent documentary become known by the public.Li bin said， the great motivation for him to keep on doing this is audience feedback and expectation.

但是生活就是這樣的，除了情懷，還有現(xiàn)實生活的粗糲。這份真實的粗糲感有時也會扎到你心酸流淚。獨立紀錄片在中國仍屬于非常小眾的行業(yè)，宣傳、投資包括制作都有很多的局限。而正因為獨立，才有這種現(xiàn)實的磨礪。

李斌說，其實真正獨立的標準是不應該有投資方的，這樣就不會有來自于投資方的壓力和束縛制約拍片，除了投資，制作也是完全獨立的，從前期調(diào)研到后期剪輯，完全自己獨立完成。而獨立紀錄片，也有其內(nèi)涵和氣質(zhì)的獨特，就是紀錄片人獨立思考的氣質(zhì)，做到完全表達。這樣“獨立”的個人表達就意味著與市場化的某些矛盾。確實，絕大多數(shù)中國獨立紀錄片幾乎是不產(chǎn)生效益的業(yè)余影像，商業(yè)效益和社會效益，兩種效益都是稀缺之物，還在處于假象之中（影展等交流活動受到掣肘，也是一些人怕兩種效益找到發(fā)芽路徑，畏懼其漸漸茁壯）。哪怕受到好評，都是局部的微弱的，不論是國內(nèi)的褒獎，還是國外的肯定，幾乎都是屬于小范圍內(nèi)精神層面的肯定，并不能影響作者的創(chuàng)作和生活，自生自滅還是常態(tài)。

而這些也成為獨立紀錄片人的最大的挑戰(zhàn)，就是如何在個人化和市場化之間找到平衡，不至于讓藝術成為一件苦逼的事情。而這也是李斌目前在嘗試做的事情，他希望能夠找到一個契合點，讓小眾的東西也可以慢慢走入大眾視野。盡管過程漫長而艱辛，但一點點做，總會有改變。他最新的紀錄片連續(xù)劇“針灸”就是這樣一種嘗試，在不妥協(xié)于自我表達的同時讓它更符合市場和觀眾的審美標準。面對挑戰(zhàn)，在獨立的路上堅持下去需要能夠轉化為動力的催化劑?？梢粤舷?，一個事情值得自覺的、可持續(xù)的進行下去，需要種種外部條件與自我肯定的理由。李斌說，他最大的精神動力來自于觀眾的期待和反映，他和優(yōu)酷合作播出的“針灸”系列得到了很多好評，“經(jīng)常有觀眾私信我詢問什么時候更新下一集，這成為我能夠堅持下去的很大的動力”，除此之外，物質(zhì)保障也是必須的，這樣是為了更好的實現(xiàn)自己的理想。

Currently， independent documentary making is Li bin’s life-long career； he said that he has changed a lot by doing this. Documentary makes him become more open and tolerated. Through the film and people’s stories， he began to understand his own life better.

Li bin has been making documentaries with his own money these years， but sometimes there is misunderstanding and question about what he is doing， but he thought that is not so important any more， for him， documentary is a great career because you help people to record our history.

到現(xiàn)在，李斌已將獨立紀錄片拍攝作為自己畢生追求的事業(yè)，他說這么多年，拍紀錄片讓他改變了很多，最大的改變就是豁達，是一種看開了的人生態(tài)度。他說，他已經(jīng)沒有早年那樣的憤怒和不平，現(xiàn)在通過鏡頭里各種各樣的人生和故事，喜怒哀樂，自己更好地理解了人生的種種，看到別人想到自己，慢慢地會理解生活里的所有事物。

這么多年拍片子，他多數(shù)是自己投錢在拍紀錄片，堅持自己的這份熱情。而這些也有被誤解的時候，有人認為不可思議，有人認為并不那么純粹，但這些在李斌看來都不重要，他說：“拍紀錄片最有意義的，就是你記錄的是歷史，你這一輩子干了一件事情，能夠在未來讓別人記住我們現(xiàn)在的人生，我覺得足以?！?/p>

Li Hao： Sweetness Rather Than Burden

李浩：甜蜜不負擔

Li Hao’s abiding bonds with Western food can be considered as a coincidence or a fate. It’s just that he stumbled on a right person at an appropriate time and place and made his random decision.

The story traces back to his going abroad. As he was born in a family of a cultural intellect， his then dream was becoming a true artist. To this end， he learnt drawing from his childhood and had traveled across China when he was a twenty-year boy. Li Hao could be among people who studied abroad earlier. In the early 1990s， like most young art-lovers in fervent pursuit of a certain complex， he， cherishing a prospect for Russian works represented by War and Peace and Anna Karenina and bringing his painting instruments along with him， spent seven days and nights on the train across Siberia and rushed all the way to Russian capital Moscow.

李浩與西餐結緣可以說是機緣巧合，也可以說是命中注定，在合適的時間，合適的地點，碰到了合適的人，然后做了一個隨機的決定。

而故事的開始要從他出國開始說起，因為出身于一個文化之家，因此“那會兒的夢想就是做一名真正的畫家，從小學習畫畫，到二十歲就游遍了全中國?！崩詈扑闶侵袊容^早出國的一代人，在上世紀九十年代初，就像大多數(shù)的文藝青年熾熱的追逐某種情結那樣，李浩憑借著對《戰(zhàn)爭與和平》、《安娜卡列妮娜》等俄羅斯作品的憧憬，坐了七天七夜的火車穿越西伯利亞，背著畫夾子就一路奔向了俄羅斯首都莫斯科。

It seemed that such original intention and decision would inevitably head towards an artistic life of painting. Yet fate tended to be so unfathomably above one： another door of art was being opened somewhere. \"I do not think I abandoned art； instead I found another way to express it.\" Li Hao said. Li Hao’s acquaintance with art of Western food stemmed from his first bite of butter. He continued， “It was an compartment for us four. My friend took a slice of bread with butter and passed to me. I had a bite of it： really fragrant； I have never seen such real butter.\" So， Li Hao took to western food from this first close contact with it. It’s merely a crush on it. However， his embarking on a journey of Western art later was never so romantic； it’s no more than tough and real existence. On earlier days overseas， survival is the fundamental. He once worked as an employee in a trading company employee there and also looked for many a job. Unfortunately， restriction from the institution threw him at a huge loss who long desired freedom in the inner heart in his life. As a consequence， he resigned from the trading company. After wandering for four hours in the street， he had no choice but to knock the door of a western restaurant， which turned out to be a door bound to change his lifetime.

As a rule， one started with courses in a professional school before becoming a cook. But the culinary path of Li Hao was just opposite. Shortly after some time his arrival in New Zealand， Li Hao， who earned his life in a restaurant， came across Garry who led him into the cooking industry. Due to his thirst for learning and diligence， Li Hao was highly prized by Garry， and acquired a lot of skills about Western food， which made him branch out down the road since. He dabbled in almost the entire industry， ranging from French bakeries， western restaurants to holiday villages… He also encountered a number of prestigious chefs. Until four years ago， he， in his 40 years old， came to return home to start his own baking workshop.

似乎這樣的初衷，這樣的決定都將帶來的是一段繪畫的藝術人生，可命運就是如此地不可捉摸，冥冥之中另一扇藝術的大門也正在打開?！拔也⒉挥X得我拋棄了藝術，反而是我找到了另一種表達方式而已”，李浩說。李浩與西餐藝術的結緣來自于那第一口黃油，“那是四個人的車廂，我的朋友拿出黃油涂到面包上遞給我，咬一口覺得真香，從前沒接觸過這種真正的黃油。”就這樣，從第一次真正親密接觸，李浩便喜歡上了西餐點，但喜歡歸喜歡，真正走上西餐藝術的道路卻并沒有那么浪漫，有的就是生存的粗糲與真實。早期到國外，生存是第一位的，李浩也曾經(jīng)在貿(mào)易公司做過職員，找過多份工作，但是體制內(nèi)的束縛讓一個骨子里以自由為生的藝術家總是無所適從，因此他從貿(mào)易公司離職，在街邊徘徊了四個小時，艱難的叩開了一家西餐廳的大門，從此也叩開了改變他一生的大門。

別人當廚師，都是先從學校學起，李浩的廚藝之路剛相反。初到新西蘭，在一家餐廳打工的李浩，遇到了將他引入廚師行業(yè)的Garry。因為勤奮好學，李浩贏得了Garry的青睞，學會了西餐的很多技藝，從此一發(fā)不可收拾。他在這個行業(yè)基本上全做過，法式面包房，西餐廳，度假村……遇見過很多名廚。直到四年前，40歲的他回國開始獨立創(chuàng)辦他的烘焙工作室。

Despite prospering bakery development now， he suffered a great deal of problems in his first start-up. For instance， only a few people know about the teaching methods of such family baking classrooms at home at the outset. But Li Hao was not discouraged. Instead， he chose to release his own experience and works on the workshop home page and his blog via the Internet. In the meanwhile， operating independently means that any promotion should be done completely on one’s own. Thus， for any means by which he could make his own ideas known， he was always ready to make attempts， and eventually he worked out a way of his own. But Li Hao didn’t take challenges arising out of the independent workshop as a burden； conversely， he's happy to enjoy such independent pleasure. He said， \"I believe what it has brought is freedom and joyful accomplishment. I’m keen to art， therefore I feel like creative and unbound things. I can follow my dream and lead my team going forward by operating this independent baking workshop.\" On the contrary， such freedom is hardly experienced within the institution， but any freedom is relative， and you have to pay the price behind any freedom. Take this independent separate baking workshop for example， ‘it’s small yet perfectly formed. It requires you to take all aspects into account， such as profitability， direction of development， development of curriculum， students， equipment， raw materials， even media publicity. While it’s sufficient for you to finish the task indicators assigned if you work within the system.\"

Speaking of freedom， Li Hao has more to deliver as an expert of artistic bakery. In his viewpoint， there’re both freedom and order in any mechanism. Take a baked dessert for example， its production process is a standardized set of scientific methods and precise quantitative criteria is an order which is free of any confusion； while in terms of decoration and matching， one is allowed to give full play to endless imagination， making a full range of creative patterns； it’s not limited in forms and is more abstract. So whether small dessert or as large as a system， it’s constituted by freedom and order； only by making continued efforts to strike a balance can we construct a superb works featured with appearance and taste.\"

盡管現(xiàn)在發(fā)展得風生水起，但是早期的獨立工作室也遇到過很多的難題，比如最開始中國這種家庭烘焙課堂的授課方式，并沒有太多人了解。但李浩并沒有氣餒，通過互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，李浩將自己的經(jīng)歷、作品，發(fā)表在工作室的主頁和博客上，同時，獨立運作也就意味著任何的推廣要完全靠自己，每一種能夠?qū)⒆约旱睦砟顐鬟f出去的方式，他都樂于嘗試，最終慢慢走出了一條屬于自己的路。但是李浩并不認為獨立工作室所面臨的難題是一種負擔，反而他享受于這種獨立的快樂：“我認為它帶來的是一種自由和一種喜悅的成就感，我喜歡藝術，因此喜歡有創(chuàng)意、不被束縛的東西，運營這個獨立烘焙工作室讓我可以按照自己的夢想來帶領團隊一起走?！毕喾?，這些自由是在體制內(nèi)所體會不到的，但是任何自由都是相對的，任何自由的背后都有其必須要承擔的代價，比如一個獨立的烘焙工作室，“麻雀雖小，五臟俱全，要考慮方方面面的事情，盈利、發(fā)展方向、教學大綱的制定、學員、設備、原材料，包括自媒體的宣傳等都要照顧到。而在體制內(nèi)工作，你只要完成相應的任務指標就可以了，只是單純地工作而已?！?/p>

談到自由，作為藝術烘焙專家的李浩有更多的看法，他認為任何一個機制內(nèi)自由和秩序是并存的。以一道烘焙甜品為例，它的制作過程是一套標準化的科學方法，精確的量化標準就是一種秩序，不能錯亂，但是在裝飾和搭配上卻可以發(fā)揮無盡的想象，創(chuàng)意出各種特色的造型，天馬行空，比較抽象。所以小到一道甜品，大到一個體制，都是由自由和秩序構成的，我們只有從其中不斷地尋找平衡，才能構造出一道道“美觀與口味俱佳的作品”。

With four years of development， the baking workshop of Li Hao has received increasing attention. However， he still sticks to his very original intent， misses that appreciation and inspiration of his initial start-up time. He told that what’s the most unforgettable for him was one of his trainees recruited at the very beginning， knelt on the ground at the time of graduation and gave him three bows， which moved him to tears at the moment. He told himself at that time： this baking workshop is not only where he realizes his own dream， but also a place to help others make their dream come true. He expressed that， “if such a concept can be sustained， he is willing to carry such ‘sweet cause’ through to the end.”

經(jīng)歷了四年的發(fā)展，李浩的烘培藝術工作室已經(jīng)受到越來越多的關注，但是他還是不忘初心，懷念最初創(chuàng)業(yè)時的那種感動和鼓舞。他說讓他最難忘的事就是最開始招收的學員中，有一個在畢業(yè)的時候，跪在地上，給他叩了三個響頭，他當時就流淚了，那時候，他告訴自己，這個烘培藝術工作室不僅是自己實現(xiàn)夢想的地方，也是幫他人實現(xiàn)夢想的地方，如果能夠?qū)⑦@樣的理念持續(xù)，李浩說，他愿意將“甜蜜的事業(yè)”進行到底。

Private Custom -- Skilled Work Creates the Kingdom

私人定制——

慢工細活打造手工皮鞋王國

Before calling Lao Yu for interview appointment， my impressions on his handmade leather shoes store are only the three tags of “private custom”， “necessity of rock youths” and “the favorite of people in Embassy District”. When calling， I am still thinking that， maybe the staff will help me to make an appointment first or directly refuse my interview. It turns out that， the man on the phone with a smiley and natural voice nicely agrees to be interviewed after hearing my intention， and he is Lao Yu.

Lao Yu’s leather shoes store is at the Gulou East Street and you may miss it when pass by the street full of shops without paying attention. It is a slightly old and tiny store displaying various styles of shoes with no delicate decoration and visible signs. In the store， Lao Yu is drawing the shoe pattern and hurriedly stops to greet me when I am entering. My first impression on the smiling middle-aged man wearing a big vest is that he seems to be an earnest uncle next door rather than a well-known designer of private custom leather shoes.

In fact， Lao Yu’s manual customization studio has always been on a down-to-earth route.

在給老余打電話約采訪之前，我對老余手工皮鞋店的印象僅有“私人定制”、“搖滾青年必備”、“使館區(qū)人員最愛”這三個標簽。接通電話的那一刻，我還在想，或許工作人員會先幫我預約，又或者直接拒絕我的采訪。結果電話那頭帶著笑意的樸實男聲聽完我意圖后，爽快地答應了采訪，他就是老余。

老余的皮鞋店在北京鼓樓東大街上，如果你路過那條商鋪林立的大街，稍不注意，可能就會錯過。沒有精致的裝修，也沒有顯眼的招牌，一家略顯陳舊的小小店面，陳列著各種皮鞋樣式，老余坐在店里畫著鞋樣，看見我推門進去，連忙停下手來招呼我。眼前這個穿著大背心，滿臉笑意的中年人，給我的第一感覺是鄰家熱心大叔，而不是一個知名的私人訂制皮鞋設計師。

事實上，老余的手工定制工作室一直都是走一條接地氣的路線。

In the early 90s， Lao Yu has worked in Beijing Leather Shoes Factory for about 10 years and he got his skill refined in shoe-design and shoe-making. However， just like other state-owned factories， Beijing Leather Shoes Factory’s steps forward have become heavy and slow under the impact of the private enterprises. It is better to strive forward by riding a bike himself rather than moving ahead on a slow train. Lao Yu comes up with the idea of leaving the state-run system. After studying the shoe-making industry in coastal developed areas， he finds that the information and resources inland are lagging far behind. If he opens a factory himself， then the present of the state-owned factories which are not able to operate would become the future of his. Lao Yu asks himself that， without those resources， what on earth does he get？ The answer is obvious： skill.

When starts to do private custom， Lao Yu says he doesn’t have any grand goals and he is satisfied when the business can support himself first and then gradually make it greater. The greater said by Lao Yu is not referred to the scale but the public praise with good quality. I ask Lao Yu， now since the store runs so well， do you ever think about hiring more workers and apprentices to expand the scale of the workshop and private custom. He shakes his head and says to me with a smile， “you may not know about the handmade leather shoes industry.” Because the customers are limited and handmade shoes need time and detailed work， the scale of this industry would not be too big. Leather shoes custom workshop comes from abroad and is represented by Italian leather craft workshops. In 1970s and 1980s， they develop very well with quite high popularity. But their scales are also limited and most of them are small workshops with a few people.

時光拉回到九十年代初，當時的老余（可能還叫小余的時候）在北京皮鞋廠已經(jīng)工作了十來年，從設計到制作皮鞋，他的技藝日漸精練，然而，在私營企業(yè)的沖擊下，北京皮鞋廠和不少國營工廠一樣，前進的步伐已經(jīng)開始變得沉重而緩慢。與其在一列慢車上晃蕩過去，不如自己騎車飛奔向前。老余萌生了離開國營體制的想法。在考察完沿海發(fā)達地區(qū)的制鞋業(yè)以后，他發(fā)現(xiàn)內(nèi)陸的資訊和資源都遠遠落后，如果自己開一家工廠，或許那些無法經(jīng)營下去的國營工廠的今天就是自己的明天。老余問自己，沒有那些資源，自己究竟有什么？答案很明顯：手藝。

一開始做私人訂制，老余說自己沒有什么宏大的目標，當時覺得能站得住腳，養(yǎng)活自己就不錯了，接下來再慢慢做大。老余口中的慢慢做大不是指規(guī)模上的做大，而是口碑做大，品質(zhì)做好。我問老余，現(xiàn)在作坊運營得那么好，有沒有考慮過多招一些工人，帶徒弟，擴大作坊規(guī)模，將手工定制做大。他搖了搖頭，笑著對我說：“你可能不了解手工定制皮鞋這個行業(yè)?！庇捎陬櫩腿后w有限，而且手工制鞋屬于慢工細活，皮鞋定制這個行業(yè)規(guī)模注定不會太大。皮鞋定制作坊源自國外，以意大利皮具手工作坊為代表，七八十年代的時候，意大利皮鞋手工作坊發(fā)展到一個較好的程度，知名度極高，但它們的規(guī)模也非常有限，大部分都是幾個人的小作坊而已。

Most of the independent studios are often in face of the impact of monopolized mass production of great brands. Lao Yu thinks that， the leather shoes brands at shopping malls put no big threat to him. Private custom targets at those with special feet types from the very beginning， who cannot find suitable ones in batches of shoes and come to Lao Yu. And nowadays， with the improvement of living standard， customers have their own requirements not only in feet types but also in materials and designs. Therefore， in some sense， handmade leather shoes workshops and mass shoe production factories belong to two industries. However， Lao Yu also sees the improvement of customer requirements and the introduction of the outsider of this industry -- international famous brands manual customization. Will this put threat on Lao Yu’s business？ Lao Yu says smilingly that， at least for now it is not a threat， since those advanced manual custom are very expensive from storefront to manual work. “Unless international brands pay much attention to Chinese market and enter in by low price， otherwise， in terms of price， I still have advantages. Even if they did come， I am confident in my craft that every process of mine are in the traditional way.” Lao Yu says he survives in cracks.

Although Lao Yu says he doesn’t have grand goals， he mentions more than once the Italian manual workshop in the interview， which is his example along the way forward as we can imagine. Lao Yu says he quite admires a small manual workshop in Florence， which only produces 200 pairs of leather shoes a year and all the high-end people need to line up if they want one. And after the shop finishing all 200 pairs of shoes， the workers would go on vacation. The targeted customers of Lao Yu include the high-end class and the working class and his workshop is still in intensive production. In order to realize dreams， Lao Yu says， on one hand， the quality of every pair of shoes should be guaranteed， and on the other hand， it needs the precipitation of time， which is the only way must be passed for every century-old shop. On this way， once you are impatient， then the dreams would be broken.

大部分獨立工作室往往都會面對大品牌壟斷式大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)的沖擊。在老余看來，商場里面那些壟斷式的皮鞋品牌對他而言，不構成大威脅。私人訂制從最初開始就是針對那些特殊腳型的人群，他們在批量鞋里買不到合適的，于是找到了老余。而如今，隨著生活水平的提高，不僅是腳型上有要求，客人對鞋子的用料和款式都有自己的定制要求。因此，從某種意義上而言，手工皮鞋作坊和批量化鞋廠是兩個行業(yè)。然而，老余也看到了顧客要求的提高，也引進了手工定制這個行業(yè)的外來者——國際知名品牌手工定制。這會不會給老余構成威脅？老余笑著說，至少在目前還不是威脅。因為那些高級手工定制從店面到人工，費用都極其昂貴。“除非國際品牌看中中國市場，都紛紛低價入市，否則從價格上而言，我還是占優(yōu)勢的。即便它們真的來了，我對自己的手藝也是很自信的，我每一道工序用的都是最傳統(tǒng)的方式?！崩嫌嘈ΨQ自己是在夾縫中生存。

盡管老余說自己沒有宏大的目標，但采訪中他不止一次提到意大利手工作坊，可以想象得到，那就是他一路上的榜樣。老余說，他很羨慕佛羅倫薩一家小手工作坊，每年只生產(chǎn)200雙皮鞋，所有高端人士想要定做都需要排隊，限量做完以后，他們就去休假了。老余目前針對的顧客群既有高端人士，也包括工薪階層，他的作坊仍處于密集生產(chǎn)的方式。要實現(xiàn)夢想，老余說，一是要做好每一雙鞋的品質(zhì)，二是要靠時間的沉淀，這是每一家百年老店的必經(jīng)之路，在這條路上，一旦心急了，夢也就碎了。

Street Snap -- Turning a Hobby into an Art Career

街拍——把愛好拍成藝術事業(yè)

When we talk about indie studios， we usually find that those craftsmen who own indie studios are actually doing business with their own hobbies. Some people may say those guys are very lucky， because they can turn a hobby into a career， like photography， but some hobbies can hardly be turned into careers， like street snap. In my opinion， the really lucky guys should be those who can turn a hobby that is not supposed to be a career into a career， like Ma Haibo， the well-known photographer for street snap.

I made an appointment with Ma Haibo to conduct an interview in Sanlitun， where he hangs out a lot. In a number of photographers who are based in Sanlitun， it won’t be hard for you to find that Ma Haibo is very different. His face shines with confidence.

當我們在聊獨立工作室的時候，常常會發(fā)現(xiàn)，那些擁有獨立工作室的匠人們，他們都是在經(jīng)營著自己的興趣愛好。有人會說，那些人是幸運的，因為他們的愛好可以變成一份職業(yè)，比如攝影，但有些愛好卻很難變成職業(yè)，比如街拍。我想，真正幸運的人，應該是把不能成為職業(yè)的愛好變成職業(yè)的人吧，比如馬海波，知名街拍攝影師。

那天，我約了馬海波在他經(jīng)常出沒的三里屯做采訪，在三里屯眾多的街拍攝影師當中，你不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，馬海波跟別人不一樣，他的臉上洋溢著一種自信的光彩。

He told me： you should be confident before you do anything.

I’m pretty sure he is confident. Three years ago， Ma Haibo left his hometown Yunnan and came to Beijing to start his career as a photographer. The first thing he did with his camera was taking street snaps. However， before that， he didn’t have any expertise in photo shooting. In his words， his skills do not come from formal education but informal means. After three year， his works started to show up frequently on the publications of various mainstream media and propagandas for famous brands. We can see him more in the international fashion shows than streets. He won himself the indie studio and the title of “well-known street snap photographer”.

Street snap came into Chinese people’s view in recent years. More and more people like to wear fashionable clothes and take casual photos on street. However， the development of street snap in China is not as well as Europe and America， the photographers are easily mistaken， questioned， and opposed. Ma Haibo went through a lot of frustrations in his way of taking street snaps. In the beginning， there was a time when he saw a man and a woman in fashion walking in Sanlitun. He went over and asked， “Excuse me， I’m a street snap photographer. Can I take a photo for you two？” This is a commonly used opening line of street snap photographers， because after all when somebody asks you for something politely， even if you don’t agree， you tend to refuse him politely. Surprisingly， the man didn’t answer first， and then walked to Ma Haibo， and said to his face， “Get Lost！” Ma Haibo said that this experience maybe easy to say right now， but for a street snap photographer， that moment was very hard. He felt like falling off the cliff and then got furious， because his beloved career was not recognized but humiliated. It’s hard for other people to understand this feeling.

他告訴我：做任何事情，首先你得要自信。

我確信他是自信的。三年前，馬海波離開了家鄉(xiāng)云南，到北京開始他的攝影生涯。他拿起相機做的第一件事情就是街拍。但在這之前，他絲毫沒有攝影基礎，用他的話說，完全野路子出身。但是三年后，他的作品頻繁出現(xiàn)在各大媒體和知名品牌宣傳上，他的身影從街頭走向了國際秀場，他有了自己的攝影工作室，也有了知名街拍攝影師的頭銜。

街拍這些年漸漸走進了中國人的視野，越來越多人喜歡穿著時尚，喜歡在大街上被街拍。然而，街拍的發(fā)展畢竟不如歐美發(fā)達國家，街拍攝影師常常會被人誤解，質(zhì)疑甚至反對。馬海波在街拍的過程中也經(jīng)歷了不少挫折。剛開始街拍時，有一次，他在三里屯看見穿著時尚的一男一女，便走上前問：“您好，打擾了，我是一名街拍攝影師，請問我可以給你們拍張照片嗎？”這是他們街拍攝影師開口必說的一句話，畢竟，當你有禮貌地先咨詢別人的時候，一般情況下，即使不同意，對方也會婉拒你。結果沒想到，那名男子一言不發(fā)，走到馬海波跟前，幾乎臉湊近臉地對他狠狠地說了一個字：“滾！”馬海波說，這件事現(xiàn)在說出來好像很普通，但是對于一個街拍攝影師來說，那個瞬間的心情是跌落谷底轉而又有暴怒的沖動，因為自己所鐘愛的工作，沒得到認可，反而被羞辱的心情，常人難以理解。

Nowadays， Ma Haibo has gone through a lot and became tough. When come across those who object street snap， his feelings won’t be affected easily. In his own words， “Taking photos for you is my way to appreciate you. Accepting or not is your freedom. Many people want me to take photos for them， but I may not do it.” Ma Haibo’s confidence cannot be separated from his character and his achievements. In the community of street snap in Beijing， he has been well accepted and recognized by other photographers， the media and enterprises. In his opinion， apart from confidence， skill is very important in the process of achieving success. Ma Haibo likes to read all the fashion magazines and study the street snaps in Europe and America. He found that be natural is a key factor in the success of western street snaps. Being natural then became his style of street snap. In the process of photo shooting， he doesn’t need the models to be professional， doesn’t need them to be good at matching or posing， and he even doesn’t need scenery background view. All he wants is to seize the most common life moments and the most genuine status and attitude of the models.

Ma Haibo considers street snap as a hobby in his career as a photographer. He said that he wants to make street snap ultra-perfect. People who run indie studios usually cannot avoid the contradictions between art and business. Ma Haibo would like to present his works through various media and brands， and this is the destiny of street snap， letting more people to share the fashion in normal life. However， in the cooperation with various media and brands， Ma Haibo would stick to his idea. Fortunately， his views and works have never let people down.

In the end of the interview， Ma Haibo told me that he is very grateful to his original street snap company， because it’s almost impossible for a beginner street snap photographer to find media or brands in his own name and it was extremely difficult to make money out of street snap in China. In the old days in the street snap company， the atmosphere and system gave him some pressure but also made him grow quickly in this field. After our interview， I saw a lot of funs of street snap hanging around in Sanlitun. Perhaps what Ma Haibo just said will be the most helpful inspiration for them.

如今的馬海波，心態(tài)漸漸也鍛煉出來了，遇到這些不支持街拍的路人，也不會難過了。用他自己的話說，“我給你拍照，是欣賞你，拍不拍是你的自由，很多人想要讓我拍，我還不一定會拍?！瘪R海波的自信，與他本人性格有關，也與他的成就密不可分。在北京街拍圈子里，他是被同行、媒體和商家等認可的。在他看來，要想做好一件事，除了有自信，技術也非常重要。馬海波喜歡翻閱各大時尚雜志，研究歐美流行街拍，他發(fā)現(xiàn)，歐美街拍成功的最重要因素是自然。自然也就成為了他的街拍風格。在街拍的過程中，他不需要被拍的模特有多專業(yè)，也不需要他們有多會穿衣服，擺造型，他更不需要借助好看的背景。他要的只是抓拍最平常的生活場景，以及被拍者最真實的生活狀態(tài)和態(tài)度。

馬海波把街拍當作自己攝影事業(yè)里的一個愛好，他說他要把街拍藝術做到一個極致。運營獨立工作室的人，往往無可避免藝術與商業(yè)之間的沖突。馬海波很樂意把自己的街拍通過不同的媒體和品牌商家展現(xiàn)給大眾，這也是街拍的使命，讓更多人分享生活中的時尚。然而，在與各大媒體和品牌的合作過程中，馬海波依然會堅持自己的想法。幸運的是，他的眼光和作品也從來不會讓人失望。

采訪的最后，馬海波告訴我，他很感謝當初的街拍公司，因為對于一個剛起步的街拍愛好者而言，是幾乎不太可能以個人名義找到媒體或品牌合作商的，在中國想獨自靠街拍掙錢很難。而在街拍公司的日子里，公司氛圍的帶動，各種制度的規(guī)范，讓他感覺到有壓力的同時，也讓他迅速地在街拍行業(yè)當中成長起來。當我們結束采訪的時候，我看到太古里樓下徘徊著的街拍愛好者們，或許馬海波這段話就是給他們最好的啟示吧。

Li Tan： A Startling

Carving Knife

李坦：石破天驚的一刀

All the indie studios introduced in this session are the successful cases in their respect fields. Some people may question that they are only the few lucky guys out of thousands of hard-working people， and when they achieve success in certain fields， people would consider their stories as the history of success. In fact， success is not always from occasional luck. When we see a person’s history of success in retrospect， we will find that those who are successful invariably made different choices at certain stage. For instance， the owner of the indie studio we are going to talk about today -- Li Tan.

Li Tan owns a stone sculpture studio in Beijing. His style in sculpture of ancient beast has been loved and spoke highly of by the professional collectors. How popular is Li Tan？ During the interview， one of his friends showed a seal to me and told me that he gave the original stone to Li Tan in the last year， but he got the completed work back days ago even under the condition of friend priority.

本期介紹的獨立工作室都是一些業(yè)內(nèi)的成功案例。有人會質(zhì)疑，他們只是千千萬萬奮斗者當中的幸運兒，而當他們幸運地在某個領域登頂后，人們就會把他們的故事當作是成功史。事實上，成功并非總是偶得的幸運。當我們把一個人的成功史逆向來看時，或許你會發(fā)現(xiàn)，成功者總是在某些關鍵點做出了與常人不同的選擇。比如這位獨立工作室主人——李坦。

李坦在北京擁有一家個人印石雕刻工作室，他的古獸雕刻風格自成一家，深受業(yè)內(nèi)收藏家追捧和喜愛。李坦現(xiàn)在究竟有多火？在采訪的時候，他的一個朋友拿著一件印鈕告訴我，去年就把石頭給了李坦，結果在朋友優(yōu)先的情況下，他也是前幾天才從李坦那里拿到成品。

The first time I met Li Tan， I found he was a shy young guy. It’s hard to imagine he is the well-known sculptor. Li Tan is becoming more and more famous but he rarely appears in public. In most time， he works silently in his studio in Xishan， studying the shaping of every piece of Shoushan stone and making every sculpture perfect.

People who are fully concentrated are always likely to get luck. Apart from carefully operating his studio， Li Tan has invariably made accurate but different choice in the turning point of his life. Changhua Mountain is the origin place of bloodstone. Many practitioners who learned their skills in Changhua Mountain tend to stay there， but Li Tan chose to go to Beijing. He believed Beijing has more professional collectors and larger market， and more importantly， as the capital for six dynasties， Beijing has various cultural and historical materials. Li Tan has been inspired by the various historical documents about relics and heritage and laid the foundation for the creation themed with ancient beast. Li Tan knows very clearly that among all the innovative works the ones without classic foundation will be ruled out by time.

初見李坦的時候，眼前羞澀不善言談的小伙子，讓我難以將他和業(yè)內(nèi)知名雕刻家聯(lián)系起來。李坦的作品名氣越來越大，但他本人卻極少出現(xiàn)在大眾面前，更多的時間里，他都是默默地在西山的工作室里度過，研究每一塊壽山石的造型，把每一個創(chuàng)作精雕細刻到極致。

用心做事的人，總會被成功眷顧。但李坦除了在運營工作室用心以外，他每一次在命運的轉折點都能做出準確而與眾不同的選擇。昌化山是雞血石的產(chǎn)地，從昌化山出師以后，不少學徒都會選擇留在當?shù)?，而李坦選擇只身前往北京。選擇北京，除了因為看中北京玩家和市場相對較大以外，更重要的是，北京作為六朝古都，各類文史資料豐富。李坦在各種文物和史料當中，吸取靈感，為自己的古獸主題創(chuàng)作奠定基礎。李坦心里清楚，在各種打著創(chuàng)新名號的作品當中，如果沒有古典根基，那將會被時間所淘汰。

A young practitioner has to go a long way to become a master in Beijing. Since he cannot become a master quickly， in order to survive， Li Tan worked as a realtor for several months. This is way that many practitioners would choose in the transition time. Some people may stay in that status， but some people will find a way to return to the original path. Li Tan had no money or valuable stones back then， but he didn’t give up. He quit the job and worked alone and quietly in his room， with just one machine and several nicking tools. He worked more than 12 hours every day. He said that it’s normal to be poor at the beginning stage and he could only work for others and save money step by step.

Some people say that Li Tan was very lucky because many people would like to pay for his sculptures. Why so many people would like to turn to a young and inexperienced practitioner？ When Li Tan was still a practitioner in Changhua Mountain， he had already been different. His obsession with sculpture made him pay attention to various skills of masters. Every night， he would practice the skills he learned “in secret”. After that， the masters’ skills cannot satisfy him anymore， so he used the money he saved to by the portfolios of ancient and modern masters to absorb more nutrients. He has developed his own style gradually. Before he left the mountain， he has already had many followers.

初到北京，一個小學徒，想要成為大師總是不能一步登天的。既然不能成為大師，總要養(yǎng)活自己，李坦為了生存，做了幾個月的房地產(chǎn)銷售。這是很多手藝學徒剛出師而又沒有找到出路的一種出路。有的人會安于此，但有的人會想辦法回歸。李坦當時沒有錢，更不可能有任何值錢的石頭，但他不想放棄，于是他辭職，安安靜靜地待在屋子里，一個人，一臺機器，幾把刻刀，開始了每天不少于12小時給別人雕刻石頭的工作。他說，剛開始資金肯定是沒有的，只能自己一邊給別人加工，一邊攢錢慢慢開始。

有人說，李坦是幸運的，在他起步的時候，有那么多人找他雕刻石頭。但是，試問為什么那么多人愿意找一個剛出師的小學徒雕刻壽山石？李坦在昌化山當學徒的時候，就已經(jīng)不同于普通的幫工式小學徒了。他對雕刻的癡迷，讓他開始留意身邊各路大師的雕刻技藝，每天晚上都會把白天所“偷師”學來的技藝自己悄悄練習。再后來，當那些昌化山大師們的技藝已經(jīng)無法滿足他的時候，他存下自己為數(shù)不多的生活費，購買各類古今大師的雕刻作品集，汲取養(yǎng)分，開始逐漸形成個人的古獸雕刻風格。當他還沒出山的時候，他的作品就已經(jīng)擁有了一大批追隨者。

Li Tan also has his planning about the future. Some famous studios easily go on the devious path because they want to expand the business or pursue the fame. Li Tan told me that he won’t give up his creation in ancient beasts but it’s necessary to expand the business. He has seen other demands in market， like the market of jade sculpture， but everybody has his own advantages， so he prefer to cooperate with other sculptors of jade to expand the business rather than doing more work by himself.

李坦對于未來也有著自己的規(guī)劃。有一定名氣的工作室，總會想著要擴展運營或追求更多的名利，往往也會因此而走偏。李坦告訴我，他不會放棄自己對古獸創(chuàng)作的道路，但拓展工作室也是必須的。他看到了其它市場的需求，比如玉雕市場，但術業(yè)有專攻，與其自己分身做更多的內(nèi)容，不如通過與有玉雕技藝的雕刻家合作，擴大工作室經(jīng)營。

有技藝，有膽識，有先見，有規(guī)劃。我想，這不僅僅是李坦的，也是本期成功的獨立工匠們的“四有”共性吧。