内容提要
　　序 Preface
　　人名似乎是一种暗示，比如苏智，好像在说他是一位聪慧的人。
　　然而，苏智却大器晚成。
　　苏智毕业于理工大学，后来改行，徘徊在文艺圈数十年。像一颗卫星不断旋转，却不肯着陆。直到终于看清了可靠保险的归宿地，这才果断地降落在摄影上。
　　苏智拿起相机拍照少说也有十多年了，从满腔热情地拍摄风光、唯美到死心踏地进入纪实摄影，实现了一次重大的转折。尤其近三、五年，在纪录社会影像上，令人刮目相看。
　　苏智推崇传统纪实摄影，甚至敬畏，但他一定要寻觅一条属于自己的路子。他说他从传统纪实摄影中获得过许多启发，但最重要的受益是关于影像语言。
　　我较全面地读过苏智的摄影作品，尤其是他即将出版的这部集子，其中彰显着十分突出的影像魅力。他把自己的作品集命名为“方相”，体现着他的执着与自信。
　　题材还是那些题材，内容还是那些内容，苏智的聪慧表现在没有重复前人，没有形影不离地追随老路。苏智再三说过这样的话：我不承担历史责任，不揭示社会问题，不展露贫困落后，我的兴趣在于影像的意味。苏智的“三不”理念，似乎偏离了纪实摄影的所指，但正适应了当下摄影发展、变化的规律。
　　到目前为止，摄影仍然是最新式的视觉表达种类。如果说的确还有一种不同于传统艺术的“当代艺术”概念存在的话，摄影正是这一概念里正在发展的艺术形式。尽管170多年来，摄影已经为人类展现出许多成熟的表达方式，但就其总趋势来看，仍处于生机勃勃的发展期，存在着广阔的变化、生长空间。因此，摄影还不会是一个孤立的、封闭的、定型的概念，更不会因已形成的传统知识、素质和修养限定后来的摄影家。苏智正是发现和瞅准了这一点，才在陕西摄影群体业已产生的强大影响下，找到了发展自己的突破口。
　　苏智与那些急功近利的摄影家不同，他不着意极端题材以及镜头的夸张变形，不以救世主的姿态启蒙“贫穷意识”，更不为自己的名利极力“消费贫困和苦难”，他关注的是普通百姓在日常生活中自然流露的有意味的影像。
　　着意有意味的影像，是中国摄影的重要进步。30年前开始的那场中国影像革命，除了冲破被长期禁锢的题材禁区外，我们还曾提出，纪实摄影最重要的是“关注人在事件中的命运、遭际，关注普遍的人性”。后来在很长时间里，纪实摄影实践和评论基本上徘徊在社会学的框架和传统的农业文化的审美惯性上，对影像自身的研究十分薄弱。今天我们关注有意味的影像，无疑是对摄影更进一步的理解和更深一层的追求。
　　苏智用浓烈的有意味的影像，淡化了不同题材的差异。在他的作品中，我们几乎不再注意农村或城市，工业或商业，老人或孩子;我们也读不到故事与情节。我们看到的是人在不同时空展现出的极具特性的姿态与神态，看到的是不同时间被结构在同一空间的奇妙关系。可以说，苏智的影像是平凡的时常被人们忽视的影像，却是只能被训练有素的眼光发现，被有敏感捕捉能力者收入镜头的影像。在他的作品中我们看到的是细节影像，是令人悦目赏心的最活泛的影像，也是潜在着矛盾与冲突的意味深长的影像。
　　记得2008年我曾为苏智写过一篇短评，其中说道：“我观察过苏智的拍摄过程，他总是悄悄地进入现场，不是隔马路，就是溜墙根，恨不得隐去自身，默默接近，从不惊动打扰对象。他只在自己的取景框内经营构图、取舍画面。无论形象组合的远近、疏密、动静，大小都是对象自在逻辑的自然生成。尤其那些令人拍手叫绝的影像，甚至可说是与对象同时诞生。因此，他作品中的人物保持着原生态的纯朴、诚挚、水灵，展现出一个个生命的活力。---而苏智在他个性化的观察、感应和捕捉中，既纵容自我，又获得安抚。”为不干扰对象，不打断对象的逻辑行为，他常常手提相机，采用盲拍方法。由于镜头较低，所获取影像显得高大，正符合他敬仰对象的主体愿望。
　　与其说这是苏智坚持的拍摄方法，不如说是他的摄影理念。这里面包含着苏智对生活的依赖、理解和敬畏：生活无尽，影像不竭!
　　苏智的影像所以有意味，就在于他保留了生活的原生态。这些影像既没有自作聪明地改变对象，也不是纯自然主义的无聊拓印。苏智总是敏感而有选择地记录着最能体现人物精、气、神融为一体的精彩瞬间。他的观察总是细微的，立体的，前后左右相互照应的。无论主体身上的饰物，还是环境中的标示，抑或土房上的天线，老街道的模特，农妇怀里的宠物，都没有躲过他的眼光，被结构在画面需要出现的地方。既不生硬地喧宾夺主，又是增加作品厚度不可或缺的潜台词。在苏智的作品中，主体影像的后方，抑或左右一定伴有呼应的陪体影像。它们相互协调或者相互矛盾，结果都增强了作品的趣味性和耐看性。尤其是依附在对象身上那些不大起眼的细节，更增强了作品的时间特征和个性化特征，从而折射出影像与生俱来的文化冲突和社会意义。
　　在出版这本册子时，苏智既没有采用黑白两色，也没有百分之百用彩色，而是使用了黑白加淡彩印刷。这样做使自己的作品在不失去生活色彩的同时，又保持了作品的质朴与厚重，体现出作者良苦用心。这使我想起文学大家沈从文，在他文学创作的鼎盛时期，用极朴素的文笔为读者描绘出一幅幅情调浓郁的风俗画，表达出清新的自然、民风和人性之美。沈从文虽然没有鲁迅那样锐利、激烈，具有战斗性，却显示着纯文学长久的生命力。今天我们强调影像的意义，摆脱传统绘画与求证的审美模式，正是为了开拓更宽广的摄影视域，增强我们更丰富的审美趣味。
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　胡武功
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　2010年9月5日
　　The name itself says it all what a wise man is Su Zhi. However， he achieved his success until he was quite old.
　　Su Zhi graduated from a university of technology but changed his profession， to working in the literary and artistic circle for ten years. He is like that satellite which is continuously going round the earth and not willing to land. It wasn’t until he reached a suitable status that hedecided to be a photographer.
　　It took Su Zhi about ten years to enter photography. He started with photos of natural scenery with great passion and entered in the realm of documentary photography whole-heartedly and achieved a great change in his life. Especially in the recent three to five year， he reachedunimaginable achievements heights in documentary photography.
　　Su Zhi admires the traditional documentary photography and looks at it in a manner of awe，but he had his own way of looking at it. He said he was inspired by the traditional documentary photography but obtained the most significant benefit from the language in photography.
　　I have had quite a comprehensive appreciation of the photographic works， especially those in the album about to be published， which immensely indicates the charm of photography. His named his album as “Fang Xiang” which clearly shows his confidence and perseverance.
　　The subject materials are still the same， and so are the contents. And Su Zhi’s wisdom is reflected in the fact that he doesn’t repeat what others have done. Su Zhi has repeatedly said the following sentence: “I will not shoulder historic responsibilities， neither reveal social problems， nor show poverty and backwardness. My interest is in the real significance of the photos.” Su Zhi’s“three noes”mentioned above seem to deviate from what documentary photography refers to， but just fits to the rules of the development of photography.
　　So far， photography is still the latest way of visual presentation. If there does exist the concept of“modern art”that is different from the traditional arts， photography is just the artistic form developing within this concept. Although for 170 years， photography has offered humankind many mature ways of expressions， it is still in the vigorous developmental period and there still exists much room for change and development. Therefore， photography is not a consistent and fixed concept and will never limit the photographers afterwards due to its traditional knowledge and qualities. And it is at this point that Su Zhi found the breakthrough under the great influence generated by the photographic circle of Shaanxi Province.
　　Su Zhi is different from those photographers who are eager for quick success. He does not utilize the extreme materials and the exaggerated shot intentionally; he neither stimulates“the poverty of consciousness”as a savior， nor proposes the“consumption of poverty and suffering”for his own benefits. His concern lies in the meaningful images from the everyday life of the ordinary people.
　　Images attached to meaningful representations have been a very significant step in the progress of Chinese photography. The Chinese photographic revolution started 30 years ago， in addition to breaking down the long-time materialistic limitations; we also once proposed that what is really important for documentary photography is“to care for the fate and misfortune of the person in the incident， and to care for the universal human nature”. For the consequent long period of time， the practice and comments on documentary photography remained within the framework of sociology and the traditional agricultural esthetic principle and insufficient research has been done on images themselves. Our concerns of meaningful images today undoubtedly lead us to the further understanding and deeper pursuit of photography.
　　Using the meaningful images， Su Zhi deemphasizes the distinctions of different materials. In his works， we neither notice countryside or city， industry or commerce， seniors or children， nor find stories or plots. What we see are the posture and expression of people with rich characteristics at different time and spaces， and the wonderful relationship of the same space at different time. It can be said that Su Zhi’s images are those extraordinary images often overlooked， by ordinary people but are captured by people with experience and well-trained eye What we see in his works are the detailed images， with the greatest vitality and potential contradictions and conflicts of meaningful images.
　　I remember that I wrote a brief comment for Su Zhi in 2008， and said: “I observed the whole process of Su Zhi’s photographing. He goes to the place quietly， stays across the road or at the corner， even hoping to be invisible so as to be close enough but not disturbing the targeted person or object. He only gets and processes his image from his own viewing frame. All the targets， regardless of their distance either far or close， dense or sparse， stable or dynamic， big or small， are formed in naturally， especially for those extraordinary images， which can be said to be produced simultaneously with the target. Therefore， the people in his works preserve the original purity and sincerity and embody the vitality of life. --And Su Zhi obtained both the sense of himself and comfort in his personal observation and image-capturing. In order not to disturb the targets and the normal behaviors， he always holds the camera in his hands and uses blind shot. Because of the lower lens， the image appears to get taller， and happens to be in line with his desire to respect the main object.
　　What Su Zhi sticks to is more the photographic concepts than the methods. And this includes Su Zhi’s dependence， comprehension and awe of life: Life is unlimited and images are infinite.
　　The reason why Su Zhi’s images are meaningful is that he preserves the originality of life. These images are neither changed in a self-clever treatment nor expanded meaninglessly in pure naturalism. He always sensitively selects the excellent moment that best represents the spirit and essence of people. His observations maintain care， are subtle and stereoscopic. Whether they are decorations on the subjects， indicators in the environment， or the antenna on an old house， models in the ancient street or the pets in the hands of the rural women， they are not neglected and are presented in the spots needed in the images. They are not the unnecessary but are the necessary“lines”which enriches the depth of the works. In Su Zhi’s works， there is an accompanying image at the back of the main image. Whether they are in harmony or in contradiction， they always end up making the works more interesting and worth reading. Especially that slightly unnoticeable detail attached to the target， which increase the personality and time quality and reflects the cultural conflicts and social meanings instinctively with images.
　　When publishing this album， Su Zhi did not use black and white or colorful images， but black-and-white， simultaneously having a pinch of light color in the print. This creates the magic which leads his works not to be losing the colors of life and preserve the simplicity and weight of life， which reflects the photographer’s hard work. This reminds me of the great literary master， Shen Congwen. During the peak time of his literary production， he used simple words to describe the folk images with rich flavors， indicating fresh nature， local customs and the beauty of human nature. Although Shen Congwen does not have the sharpness of Lu Xun in fighting， his works represents the eternal vitality of pure literature. Today we emphasize the meanings of image to escape from the traditional aesthetic mode of painting and verification， and our purpose is just to establish a broader realm of photography to promote the richness of our aesthetic appreciation.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Hu Wugong
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　September5，2010

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