薛康：一個(gè)攝影家的“攝影+”

今年是科學(xué)發(fā)現(xiàn)大熊貓和金絲猴150周年，致力于追蹤拍攝珍稀動(dòng)物金絲猴的四川攝影家薛康和“大熊貓攝影師”周孟棋一起，策劃出版一本關(guān)于金絲猴和大熊貓的“雙寶”攝影畫(huà)冊(cè)，還計(jì)劃舉辦相關(guān)展覽，把金絲猴和大熊貓的影像帶出國(guó)門(mén)。

薛康65歲了，他奔波各地，一往情深地追蹤、尋訪拍攝金絲猴，關(guān)心、呼吁保護(hù)金絲猴，這樣的愛(ài)好比較“特立獨(dú)行”。他說(shuō)，退休后就給自己定了一個(gè)目標(biāo)——要拍好金絲猴。作為攝影家，薛康的作品雖然多次參加各種大展，但是拍攝金絲猴，他是一種“歸零的心態(tài)”。他不只致力于原生態(tài)、自然的金絲猴圖片，還積極撰寫(xiě)調(diào)研報(bào)告和相關(guān)提案等。從最初的“攝影好奇”到傾注全力的“呼吁保護(hù)”，薛康做了太多“金絲猴攝影+”的工作。

困難是記憶中別致的風(fēng)景

中國(guó)的金絲猴分布在湖北神農(nóng)架、貴州梵凈山、云南香格里拉、四川九寨溝和平武等地，但凡留下金絲猴身影的地方，薛康都去探訪過(guò)。

野外攝影是一件很艱苦的事情，但在薛康的記憶里，印象深刻的是那一幅幅詩(shī)意美景：白雪皚皚的神農(nóng)架里金絲猴的靚麗、飄越崇山峻嶺間的輕盈云彩、森林里綠色的生機(jī)……薛康說(shuō)，最初對(duì)拍攝困難估計(jì)不充分，“拍金絲猴，你可能去了一天，卻沒(méi)有看到金絲猴，或者金絲猴在樹(shù)上跳來(lái)跳去，根本沒(méi)法拍。金絲猴自然保護(hù)區(qū)也不能隨便進(jìn)去，有很多限制”。盡管拍攝中遇到的困難非常多，薛康和他的攝友還是一個(gè)個(gè)排除解決了。

他們?cè)?jīng)在暴雪后，坐著輪胎掛上鏈條的大客車(chē)，搖搖晃晃地去神農(nóng)架。山上的氣溫在零下10攝氏度左右，手指頭一露出來(lái)，一會(huì)兒就凍僵了。他已經(jīng)記不清去過(guò)神農(nóng)架多少次了，遇到的困難都化為“開(kāi)心一笑”。

看到新聞報(bào)道“在寶興縣海拔3600多米的原始森林發(fā)現(xiàn)百余只川金絲猴猴群”，他會(huì)興奮不已地聯(lián)系研究金絲猴的教授和攝友一起去寶興?！耙淮笤缇瓦M(jìn)山了，當(dāng)我們的車(chē)開(kāi)到海拔2700米處的采礦點(diǎn)時(shí)，沒(méi)路可開(kāi)了，只能徒步上山。”薛康說(shuō)。上山的路被當(dāng)?shù)厝朔Q為“牦牛走過(guò)的路”，他們爬了快6個(gè)小時(shí)，到海拔3600米處，天已經(jīng)快黑了。一行10人能夠休息的地方只有一間守林人的林間小屋。這間20平方米左右的小屋內(nèi)，除了做飯的設(shè)施和堆放的雜物外，還有一個(gè)大通鋪。就這樣，每人一個(gè)睡袋，一個(gè)挨一個(gè)，睡了一宿。下山時(shí)，他們經(jīng)歷了一年四季不同的天氣，有小雨，有小雪，一路摔跤，一身黃泥漿，連滾帶爬下山。此行讓薛康收集到了非常多的素材，了解到很多信息。

薛康拍金絲猴最驚險(xiǎn)的一次經(jīng)歷是皮膚里鉆進(jìn)了蜱蟲(chóng)，那是在云南。他的左胸突然出現(xiàn)一團(tuán)黑色的東西，半夜從住地打車(chē)到附近醫(yī)院急診。醫(yī)生告訴他，這是蜱蟲(chóng)，蜱蟲(chóng)有倒鉤，鉆進(jìn)去以后，很難弄出來(lái)，個(gè)別過(guò)敏體質(zhì)者還有可能導(dǎo)致神經(jīng)麻痹，危及生命。醫(yī)生嘗試用注射器的針頭挑出蜱蟲(chóng)，經(jīng)過(guò)近半小時(shí)的努力，終于把蜱蟲(chóng)全部挑出來(lái)。等再回到住處，已經(jīng)凌晨1點(diǎn)多了，薛康沒(méi)有告訴其他同伴，第二天一早跟著同伴又一起上山了。

“困難隨時(shí)都有可能出現(xiàn)，不能怕困難?！边@是薛康對(duì)自己的鼓勵(lì)。對(duì)于任何一位從事野外動(dòng)物攝影的攝影師而言，用“勇敢”去形容他們的品質(zhì)可能都顯得遜色，因?yàn)槿魏卫щy、險(xiǎn)情在他們眼里都成為記憶中別致的風(fēng)景。

發(fā)揮“攝影+”的作用，拉近金絲猴與大眾的距離

薛康將自己的熱情、溫暖、開(kāi)朗、樂(lè)觀投注在鏡頭，為那一只只“乖萌可愛(ài)”的金絲猴留下了美麗的瞬間。作品《渴望》里，四只頭部棕色、背部灰色的金絲猴簇?fù)碓谝黄?，團(tuán)坐在一塊大巖石上，它們的眼睛望著遠(yuǎn)方，充滿期待；《綠色家園》反映了金絲猴的生活習(xí)性——以家庭為單位選擇樹(shù)枝棲息，一棵大樹(shù)的不同樹(shù)枝上往往有幾個(gè)不同的金絲猴家庭；《母子情》里，被母猴抱在懷里的小金絲猴，如嬰兒般安寧；《嫵媚》中那只獨(dú)棲的滇金絲猴，櫻桃紅的厚嘴唇在林間尤為醒目；《小精靈》是對(duì)川金絲猴的近景拍攝，環(huán)境虛化為藍(lán)白相融的背景圖，棲息在枯枝上的金絲猴的金黃色毛發(fā)漂亮極了，眼睛水汪汪，畫(huà)面通透寧?kù)o。

“金絲猴特別萌，特別漂亮。它們瞬間的形態(tài)非常精彩，一旦拍攝下來(lái)，效果都非常好?！毖翟谂臄z的過(guò)程中，越來(lái)越喜歡這些難以尋見(jiàn)的猴群；在了解到金絲猴自然保護(hù)區(qū)的現(xiàn)狀后，更覺(jué)身上的責(zé)任很重。作為一名集郵愛(ài)好者，他還嘗試探索一條攝影與集郵相結(jié)合的藝術(shù)新路，完成了一部金絲猴郵集。“‘生態(tài)夢(mèng)’是中國(guó)夢(mèng)的一個(gè)重要組成部分。我希望我的金絲猴影像能夠與其他文化形態(tài)相結(jié)合，以更加新穎的方式加強(qiáng)對(duì)金絲猴的保護(hù)和宣傳?！毖嫡f(shuō)。

薛康的首部郵集《金絲猴——生態(tài)家園的精靈》6月中旬參加“中國(guó)2019世界集郵展”。薛康說(shuō)，金絲猴的郵票很少，極限片也不多。面對(duì)這樣少的郵品要編組出一部“郵品面積不少于50%”的5框開(kāi)放類(lèi)郵集是很難的，而且開(kāi)放類(lèi)沿用專(zhuān)題類(lèi)的規(guī)則，要求“郵品要多國(guó)、多品種和時(shí)間跨度要大”就更加難上加難了。因此，在編組郵集過(guò)程中，他絞盡腦汁想了很多辦法，奔波各地廣泛收集相關(guān)素材。

郵集里，薛康三人在叢林雪地里仰望拍攝——“金絲猴的樣子確實(shí)可愛(ài)，想給它們拍照”；舉起大相機(jī)拍攝，兩只金絲猴躥肩膀上來(lái)了，一只趴在頭上，親攝影師額頭呢——“可真不容易，它們常來(lái)幫倒忙”……薛康在郵集中選用了19世紀(jì)的郵票23枚、各種內(nèi)容的世界首枚票6枚，時(shí)間從1764年至今，前后跨度約350多年。郵集除了常用的封、片、簡(jiǎn)、票，還采用了馬爾雷迪封、冊(cè)式廣告信卡等共44個(gè)品種。此外，還收入以薛康的攝影作品為藍(lán)本，由成都蜀繡博物館館長(zhǎng)楊德全刺繡的金絲猴《嫵媚》原件、剪紙傳承人白仲會(huì)剪紙的金絲猴《幸福一家》原件和來(lái)自法國(guó)自然歷史博物館的金絲猴模式標(biāo)本照片等。尤其別具一格的是，郵集還以二維碼的形式讓讀者聽(tīng)到了實(shí)地錄制的5種情形下的金絲猴“語(yǔ)言”。

這部郵集的文字言簡(jiǎn)意賅，更多地讓素材“說(shuō)話”，以喚起大眾的環(huán)保意識(shí)和保護(hù)瀕危物種的責(zé)任感，凝聚生態(tài)文明建設(shè)和中國(guó)夢(mèng)的共識(shí)。薛康還特意把自己作為四川省政協(xié)委員在四川省十一屆五次會(huì)議上作出的關(guān)于保護(hù)川金絲猴的提案及相關(guān)部門(mén)的回復(fù)原件收錄其中。

除了忙著拍攝、編組郵集、調(diào)研、《雙寶畫(huà)冊(cè)》出版和攝影展覽等之外，薛康還積極倡議并參與四川省《川金絲猴志》的編撰工作。薛康最初的“攝影愛(ài)好”因著那份憐惜、關(guān)懷，傳播金絲猴已然成為他的“中國(guó)夢(mèng)”。這個(gè)夢(mèng)想，正在騰飛。

This year marks the 150thanniversary of the scientific discovery of "Giant Panda" and "Golden Monkey". The photographer Xue Kang from Sichuan,tracking the rare animal golden monkey,and the "Giant Panda Photographer"Zhou Mengqi,jointly publish a "Double Treasure" photography album concerning the two rare animals. They also plan to hold related exhibitions,bringing images of golden monkeys and giant pandas overseas.

The 65-year-old Xue Kang has been traveling all over the country,trying to trace and take pictures of the golden monkey,calling for the protection of the animal with great passion. This kind of hobby is more "maverick". He said,after his retirement,he has set a goal for himself - taking pictures about the golden monkey. As a photographer,Xue Kang has participated in various exhibitions for many times,but he holds a "returning to conscience" mentality. He is not only devoted to taking original pictures of ecological and natural golden monkey,but also proactively writing research reports and related proposals. From the initial "photography of curiosity" to the "calling for protection",Xue has accomplished too much work on " Photography + of Golden Monkey".

Obstacles Are Unique Landscape in Memory

The golden monkeys are distributed in Shennongjia of Hubei,Mount Fanjing of Guizhou,Shangri-La of Yunnan,Jiuzhaigou and Pingwu of Sichuan etc. Xue Kang,has visited all the places that the golden monkeys have lived.

Wildlife photography is a very difficult task,but in Xue's memory,what impressed him most is the poetic beauty: the beautiful shape of golden monkey in the snowy Shennongjia,the light clouds floating in the mountains and the vitality amid the green forest.… Xue said that the initial prediction of difficulty was not enough. "You may spend a whole day without seeing the golden monkey,or the cute animal jumps around the trees,there is no way to take at all. The golden monkey nature reserve is not open to the public as there are many restrictions." Despite the many difficulties encountered in the shooting,Xue and his fellow photographers have resolved them one after another.

They once used to sit on the large tires hang on the bus with chains after the blizzard,swaying side by side to the Shennongjia. The temperature on the mountain was around minus 10 degrees Celsius,and the fingers were frozen after exposing for a while. He could not recall how many times he has been to Shennongjia,but all the difficulties encountered have turned into "happy smiles".

Upon reading the report that "more than a hundred Sichuan golden monkey herbs have been found in the virgin forest at an altitude of more than 3,600 meters in Baoxing County," he was most excited to contact professors and photographers dedicated to the golden monkey to visit Baoxing. "We started to climb the mountain early in the morning. When our car drove to the mining point at 2,700 meters above sea level,there was no way for cars,and we could only walk up the mountain." Xue said. The road up the mountain was called"the road for yaks" by the locals. They climbed for 6 hours and reached an altitude of 3,600 meters. It was already dark.There was only one forest lodge where our group of 10 people could rest. In this 20-square-meter lodge,there was also a large bed in addition to the cooking facilities and the debris. In this way,everyone slept in his sleeping bag for a night. When they went down the mountain,they experienced different weather throughout the year,with light rain,and snow,wrestling all the way with mud all over the body down the mountain. This trip has allowed Xue to collect much material and acknowledge a lot of information.

One of the most thrilling experiences of Xue's golden monkey shooting happened in Yunnan when a tick got into his skin. A black thing suddenly appeared in his left chest then,and he took a taxi from his residence to the hospital for emergency in the middle of the night. The doctor told him that this is a tick,which has barbs. It was most difficult to get rid of them if the insect got deep into the skin. Some individuals with allergies may also have nerve palsy which endangers their life. The doctor tried to pick out the tick with the syringe needle. After nearly half an hour,the tick was finally picked out. When returning to the residence,it was already over 1AM in the morning. Xue Kang did not tell other companions. The next morning,he followed them and went up the mountain together.

"Difficulties may occur at any time,but you shoulen't be afraid of them." This is Xue's encouragement to himself. For any photographer who is engaged in outdoor animal photography,it may be insufficient to use the word "courage" to describe their personality,because any difficulty and danger are in their eyes a unique scene in memory.

"Photography +" Is Playing a Role in Getting the Public Closer to Golden Monkey

Xue Kang has committed his enthusiasm,warmth,cheerfulness and optimism to the camera,leaving beautiful images for each of the cute golden monkeys. In the workHunger,four golden monkeys with brown heads and gray backs are clustered together. The group sits on a large rock,their eyes looking into the distance,full of expectation; theGreen Homereflects the living habits of golden monkeys -they choose branches depending on the scale of family,as different families of golden monkeys sit on different branches of a large tree; InMother and Child,a small golden monkey held by his mother is as peaceful as a baby; the thick cherryred lips of the only Yunnan snub-nosed monkey alone in the forest in the work ofBeautyis particularly eye-catching;The Elfis a close-up shot of the golden snub-nosed monkey,the environment is blurred into a background image with colors of blue and white,reflecting the pretty hair of the cute animal perching on the dead branches,with watery eyes amid tranquility.

"The golden monkeys are so cute,so beautiful. Their instant posing is very exciting. The effect is very good once they are photographed." Xue is more and more fond of these hard-tofind monkeys in the process of photograph shooting; And he felt more responsibility after acknowledging the status quo of the reserve. As a philatelist,he also tried to explore a new art road combining photography and philately,resulting in completing a post collection of gold monkey. "The 'ecological dream' is an important part of the Chinese dream. I hope that my golden monkey image can be combined with other cultural forms to enhance the protection and publicity of the cute animal in a more novel way," Xue said.

Xue's first postal collection,"The Golden Monkey - The Elves of Ecological Homeland" will participate in the "China World Philatelic Exhibition" in mid-June. He said that stamps concerning the golden monkey are quite limited in number and there are not many maximum postcard either. In the face of such a small number of philatelic products,it is very difficult to group a 5-box open-class postal collection with a"postal product area of no less than 50%",and the open-class follows the rules of thematic category,requiring that "the philatelic products should be multi-national,diversified with a wide coverage of time",which is much harder. Therefore,in the process of marshalling the postal collection,he racked his brains and found a lot of solutions to collect relevant materials from all over the country.

In the postal collection,Xue and other two fellows looked up in the snow in the jungle - "The golden monkey looks really cute and we want to take pictures of them"; in front of the standing big camera,two golden monkeys squat on their shoulders,one on the head and kissed forehead of the photographer - "It's not easy,they often do a disservice."Xue chose 23 stamps of the 19thcentury and 6 stamps from his world collection of various subjects. The timespan is,from 1764 to the present,more than 350 years. In addition to the commonly used seals,cards,small papers,and tickets,the postal collection also uses a total of about 44 varieties including Mulready Seals and booklet advertising cards. In addition,it also includes the original of the golden monkey inBeauty,embroidered by Yang Dequan,director of the Chengdu Embroidery Museum,the original of the golden monkey inHappiness Familycut by the paper-cut inheritor Bai Zhonghui,and photos of the golden monkey model specimen from the French Museum of Natural History. What is especially unique is that the postal collection also allows the viewers to hear the golden monkey "language (sounding)"in five situations recorded in the field via the form of a twodimensional code.

The text of this postal collection is much concise,making the materials "speaking" to arouse the public's awareness of environmental protection and responsibility to protect endangered species,and build a consensus on the construction of ecological civilization and the China dream.Xue also deliberately included his proposal to protect the Sichuan Golden Monkey and the original copy of the reply by relevant departments when he was a member of the Sichuan Provincial Political Consultative Conference at the 5thPlenary Session of its 11thConference.

In addition to busy shooting,stamps collecting,researching,publishing of the "Double Treasure" Album and photography exhibitions,Xue Kang also actively advocated and participated in the compilation of "The Annals of Sichuan Golden Monkey". His original "photography hobby" came from his sympathy and love,while "Advocating Golden Monkey" has already become his "China Dream",flying vigorously into the sky.