Chapter 12 Who can stop the world for three seconds?

If the mirror is an unintentional camera, so forgetful, then the camera is an amorous mirror, so take pictures.In this world, the mirror is just passing by, but the camera is never forgetting.If the mirror that was lucky enough to reflect Helen was a camera, we would be blessed to be like the Greek heroes and be able to satisfy the legendary beauty.Poor ancients, they can only look at their reflections in the mirror and feel sorry for themselves. Even Narcissus, he was only narcissistic, unlike modern people, when they feel sorry for themselves, there are always thousands of photos, no, thousands of mirrors, Available for viewing.

In the busy modern society, who can stop the world for three seconds?Nobody can, except the photographer.For a group photo, I was disturbed for a long time to give up my seats, and finally everyone took their seats. The people standing in the back row were either tall or short, or they were out of balance, or someone's glasses reflected light, or the fringe of the hat was not straight. The photographer didn't like it and wanted to call for corrections.Under the sun, or in the cold wind, for more than ten minutes in a row, no matter whether you are a king or a president, who can go against the person who controls the camera?

"Do not move!" The last order has absolute authority.Who dares to move an eyelash and be the black sheep?The threat of shouting is like the police in the United States yelling to stop fugitives: Freeze!Everyone was so frightened that their eyes cracked, their smiles froze, and it was useless to repeatedly order Say cheese.The photo was rushed out, and when I looked at it, there was a fly in the ointment, someone always reacted slowly and blinked their eyes.Human beings are like Argus, the hundred-eyed monster in Greek mythology, who always has a few eyes closed to rest. Sitting in rows is not for eating fruit, but for taking pictures of the group.The result is, as usual, monotonous and tedious.In recent years, when I went to give speeches in various places, I was often shocked by the flashing lights. The audience took turns to take a group photo, which became a scene of "changing the soup without changing the medicine".The smile should be popular on the water, naturally forming lines, but once you try to maintain it, it becomes a mask and hypocrisy.Over time, I discovered a new way to challenge.

Before the photographer wants to press the shutter, it is customary to shout "one-two-three!" Already on full alert, when he shouted "Three—" his expression had already been dull, and his smile, if there was any, had already begun to stiffen due to the forced extension.Therefore, the group photos are stereotyped, always rigid and boring.On the other hand, portraits in action, such as jumping contestants, singing singers, spinning dancers, and conductors raising sticks, all have natural and vivid expressions and postures. Therefore, in recent years, when I accept photography, I often ask the other party to save this old trick, and let me look away instead. When he says "OK!", I suddenly turn my head and stare at the camera.In this way, my expression and posture are all new, and even my smile is new.Before everything is too late to be dazed, the shutter flashes, and the moment has already been captured.

Photography, is it an art?of course.But this art is half done by God and half done by man.For Monet, light is God.At the beginning of Menghong, the god said, there should be light in the sky, and light is life.The broken rosy sky, the shadow of the moon in the water, the philosopher meditating, and the beautiful woman looking back, are all pre-existing scenes and pre-existing feelings, that is to say, God has already done half of it.But to capture eternity in a moment and capture light and shadow in a precise moment, we still need to master the master of the camera.When a miracle happens, you have to be there, and your light-tracking box must be at hand, and you can take it out as soon as you pull it out, like a sharpshooter in the west.

The expression of the Afghan girl's pupils opened wide, she was both shocked and angry. On the cover of "National Geographic Magazine", she stared at the whole world with hairs on their backs and their conscience was disturbed.This glimpse is more powerful, more profound, and more like a nightmare than Afghanistan sending eloquent diplomats to the United Nations to complain.But that miracle happens once in a thousand years, and it disappears at a glance, and you are not allowed to shout "one-two-three"! In fact, if photography is to become an art, it should at least become an unforgettable commemoration for a lifetime. Sometimes, the subjects in front of the camera can also turn their backs and make contributions.No matter sitting upright or standing upright, frontal and positive portraits are so common, why not take side or back portraits?Today's media is so developed, reporters take pictures, and TV cameras, I have been used to the camera staring for a long time.The reporter became an amateur director, and sometimes asked me to sit at the table to write poems, and sometimes asked me to lean on the shelf to turn the pages of books; On the embankment, watch the whole strait pick up the sunset in the mournful twilight.I became a half-toned extra, in and out of my own poetry.Over time I also choose backgrounds, arrange poses, or wave back unexpectedly.

One year I took students from Sun Yat-Sen University to South Africa for an exchange. When I arrived in a Zulu village, everyone competed with the natives to take pictures. I thought it was a pity, so I asked a Zulu warrior to swing at me, pointing the spear point at my throat , I raised my hand to protect my head, in a state of emergency. Shortly after the opening of the mainland in 1981, Xin Di and Ke Ling went to Hong Kong with a delegation to participate in the "Forties Literature Symposium" hosted by the Chinese University.Xin Di published a collection of poems "The Collection of Palms", and I proposed a paper on this book, which was called "Trying Xin Di's Palmistry", which everyone found interesting.At the dinner after the meeting, the photographer took a special photo with Mr. Xin Di.Suddenly I took his right hand and asked him to spread out his palm, allowing me to point, as if he was reading palmistry.Xin Di was overjoyed, and everyone laughed.

Once in Xiziwan, Zhong Ling entertained graduate students in the department for the "National Literature and Art Award". After the meal, teachers and students took turns to take pictures.He Ruilian and Zheng Shujin, one on the left and the other on the right, were about to take a photo with me when suddenly my shoulders felt the same pressure. It turned out that Ruilian's right elbow and Shujin's left arm were put together.I don't know if they improvised, or had a conspiracy.In short, this surprise attack surprised and smiled the usually conservative teachers and students, and added an interesting picture to the photos of my family full of pits and valleys.It was sunny that day, and I was wearing a pair of sunglasses. Someone saw the photo and said I looked like a gangster.

Back at Chinese University last month, Xu Yunxian took me to New Asia College’s new attraction “Heaven and Man in One”.She told me that President Jin Yaoji boasted that this is the second scene in Hong Kong. When people asked where the first scene was, Jin Yaoji smiled and said, "I haven't found it yet." Ming, how did you reveal that Hong Kong was overflowing with desire, and even invaded the edge of the campus?Feeling dazed and confused, Yun Xian smiled and said, "Follow me." Then she led me towards Kong Ming.Only then did I discover that there was a small pool beside the cliff, which was clear and full but not overflowing. From a distance, it seemed like it was connected to the sea.Man-made coincides with nature, so it is said that "man and nature are one".A path goes around the cliff to the back of the pool, which is extremely narrow.Everyone took turns standing on the path, facing the sea and facing the pool to take pictures.When it was my turn, I knelt down and rested my chin on the edge of the pool.After the photo came out, I saw my head floating above the vast expanse. My friend was stunned and puzzled when he saw it.

In life, greed, hatred and ignorance have thousands of causes and conditions, and all kinds of difficulties.Snow mud claws, who can keep them, remember?Do you keep a diary? It's too time consuming.Photography is not only fast, but also detailed, which is much more convenient.A small rectangle of the golden section is an entire psychedelic world, which can accommodate your relatives, lovers, and friends; more importantly, you, the protagonist of this world, are also in it.Wilde said that the longest romance in his life was narcissism.So everyone has countless photos, especially of themselves.Monkey King can blow his hair and clone himself, and change seventy-two.There are more than seventy-two changes in modern people's photography doubles?It is inevitable that every household will be flooded with photos.

This kind of narcissistic romance is not something that can only be kept private like a diary, but can only be satisfied by showing off publicly.If the host wants to enjoy the pleasure of showing off, the guests have to fulfill the duty of watching.A few zero photos are not to be feared, but the most fearsome thing is that the host holds out several photo albums to entertain the guests in a grand and solemn manner.Seeing this exhibition, the last dessert after the meal cannot be accepted for a while, so the guests had to take a deep breath to face it, not only staring at it carefully, but also admiring it.If you are lucky, the host gets up to refill tea or answer the phone, and the guest can take the opportunity to turn a few more pages at once. One man's narcissism, another's weariness.Having said that, the broom is still worth cherishing.There are a lot of photos in my house, and the photo album is full of pillows. There must be tens of thousands of photos, and tens of thousands are also possible.I took too few photos when I was young, but later I took too many photos. In recent years, many photos are really redundant.Among them, there should be hundreds of them that are worthy of collection and nostalgia or even nostalgia.As a son, husband, father, ancestor, friend, and teacher, the photos of relatives, friends, and precious students are of course the most precious.But as a poet, there are two photos that deserve special mention. The first is a group photo, taken in early 1961.At that time, my English translation of "Anthology of New Chinese Poetry" was published in Hong Kong, and the "American Embassy in Taipei" held a tea party to celebrate, inviting the selected poets to participate. Hu Shi and Luo Jialun even came as seniors of new literature.Hu Shi was the founder of new poetry, and he was inevitably invited to give a speech at the meeting. He spoke in fluent English for ten minutes, from recounting the beginning of new poetry to encouraging poets of later generations.It is a pity that some of the selected poets, such as Yi Xian, Ruan Nang, and Xiang Ming, could not attend that day.But the above photos are still in the majority, including Ji Xian, Zhong Dingwen, Qin Zihao, Zhou Mengdie, Xia Jing, Luo Men, Rong Zi, Luo Fu, Zheng Chouyu, Ye Shan and me, a total of eleven people.As far as that year is concerned, most of the poetry circles are in it. The other is a photo of me and Frost, taken in 1959.I was thirty-one years old at the time, and the old poet was eighty-five.He was sitting in front of him, and I was standing behind the chair, leaning sideways.The old poet has white beard and hair, and he seems to be meditating, but he doesn't look like a dragon.He was holding an old-fashioned Parker pen, and was about to write an inscription on my newly purchased "Frost Poems" at my request.What I thought in my heart was that if I could secretly cut a few strands of the silver thread in front of me and give them to poet friends in Taiwan, this would be a great gift both light and heavy. This group photo has been enlarged and framed, and it stands high on the top shelf of my study. It has long become my "elder muse" and the "familiar" art totem of my four daughters. like a doctor.Only when he was teaching American poetry to Frost, did he take him off the shelf and pass it on to the students who were 110 years younger than him, making them realize that the great poet in the book was not completely different from them. relation. Hu Shi died in 1962 and Frost the following year.Leaving photos, although not as important as leaving books, is another way of passing on, making readers of the next generation feel more cordial.Judging from the photos, the talented Wilde is really too fat, not as sharp as his epigrams, which is a disappointment.I often think that if Confucius really left a photo, we can take a closer look at what the sage looked like. Is it really like Zheng Ren said, "A lot of people are like a lost dog"?China's history is too long, not to mention photos of ancient sages and heroes, and even portraits are not contemporary portraits.The portraits made by later generations of painters should be based on the character or style of the ancients, such as Liang Kai's "Taibai Xingyin Picture" and Su Liupeng's "Taibai Drunken Picture", although they are rare, they are freehand.In the "Biography of Chinese Writers" edited by Yang Yinshen, about one-fifth of the 520 people have portraits, but their faces are often similar, and there is no typical facial makeup of sackcloth, which makes people laugh. Tony Benn, a leading figure in the British Labor Party, has a famous saying: "Most of the encounters in life are a moment of joy in exchange for a lifetime of uneasiness; photography is a moment of uneasiness in exchange for a lifetime of joy." No wonder there are so many Feverish photography fans are constantly changing cameras, loading film, opening and closing eyes, the spotlight is shining, and the shutter is swiping. Knowing that the world is constantly fleeing, they do everything possible to keep it.