Lishui, November 11 (Reporter Shao Yanfei Lin Bo) As the largest terraced rice field group in East China, the beautiful photographic works of the terraced rice fields have made the clouds and terraces with a thousand-story terrace, a thousand-meter drop and a thousand-year-old history successfully famous all over the world; The work "Above the River", which shows the original Oujiang sail shadow, won the overall championship of the first Siena International Photography Award... A photo records the development of Lishui, Zhejiang, and also contributes to the butterfly change of Lishui.

Clouds and terraces in autumn. Photo by Liu Lili

"Not only to bask in the scenery, but also in the culture." Over the past 20 years, in the "background board" of lucid waters and lush mountains, Lishui has used cultural heritage as a creative brush, and through the platform of Lishui Photography Festival, it has used the lens to convey cultural flavor and refresh a new path of green development.

Hold the roots of rural culture

In Chenjiapu Village, which is located on a hill at an altitude of more than 850 meters above sea level in Songyang County, by retaining the basic form and texture of traditional villages, introducing brands such as pioneer bookstores, and implanting new business formats such as coffee bars, book bars, and tea houses, nearly <> villagers have been driven to start businesses and find employment at their doorsteps.

"It is the preservation of the traditional cultural flavor that makes Chenjiapu Village a 'Internet celebrity check-in place'." Bao Chaohuo, secretary of the party branch and director of the village committee, said that from the "uninhabited village" with inconvenient transportation and houses collapsing at any time to the nostalgic place that photography enthusiasts yearn for today, maintaining the original farming culture of the mountain village is the secret of the village's success in the circle.

Bao Chaohuo said: "In the past, everyone loved to shoot with 'long guns and short guns', but now in the era of mobile phones, everyone is a photographer. ”

The natural beauty of the landscape, the accumulation of profound cultural heritage, and the unique folk customs make Lishui have good "appearance" and "temperament", and have won the love of photographers and tourists at home and abroad.

Since 2004, the Lishui Photography Festival has been held for <> consecutive years, and each photography festival has attracted the participation of tens of thousands of photography artists, experts, scholars and photography enthusiasts at home and abroad, setting a record in the history of many domestic photography festivals, and becoming a world-renowned and the most influential photography festival in China.

And Lishui Village, represented by Chenjiapu Village, is becoming a check-in place for photography enthusiasts.

"The eight hundred miles of Oujiang River is the most beautiful in Lishui." In the view of Ji Guolin, deputy mayor of Chongtou Town, Yunhe County, the charm of photography lies in discovering beauty and the cultural flavor behind beauty.

"Photographers are like 'reclamation people' who have discovered beauty, they can get up in the middle of the night to squat for a photo, and this photographic spirit is worthy of admiration." Ji Guolin said that it is precisely because of the strong support of these photographers that the beauty of Yunhe and even Lishui is transmitted through a photo, attracting more people here.

Ji Guolin said: "What we have to do is to build 'beauty' well, inherit the roots of culture, lay a good foundation to serve everyone, so that people who come will no longer 'reclaim the waste', but enjoy the natural beauty and humanistic beauty." ”

Over the past 20 years, "a blueprint has been drawn to the end", Lishui photography has continued to grow strongly, becoming a shining cultural "golden business card" of Lishui, and also launching the cultural brand of Lishui photography.

Attracting the "return" of diverse forces

Bao Peijun, the owner of "Chunxiao" in Chenjiapu Village, is a "post-90s" and a native of the country. At the beginning of 2023, he returned to the village from Hangzhou to start a homestay.

Walking into the "Chunxiao" B&B, the old houses surrounded by green hills have a sense of independence from the world, and with the blessing of clouds and mist, people feel like they are in a fairyland. Green mountains, bamboo seas, valleys... Each room has a different perspective, so you can feel the rich rural atmosphere up close.

"There is also great development in the countryside, especially the 'green waters and green mountains' in our village, which are more and more favored by friends from all over the world." Bao Peijun told reporters that in the Internet era, "beauty" is an emotional resonance, "thanks to photography enthusiasts for sharing the beautiful scenery they took on the Internet, so as to attract tourists to come and drive the development of our country house industry." ”

Over the past 20 years, through the broad stage built by the Lishui Photography Festival, Lishui has attracted a group of young forces to return.

Mao Jinjun, honorary chairman of the Songyang County Photographers Association, witnessed the changes of Lishui's "20 years of light and shadow". The green water is gone, and the green mountains open to each other. In his lens, the story of Lishui for 20 years is also clearly recorded.

Photography "Out of the Mountain". Photo by Fu Feiyang

Facing the morning sun, on the winding mountain road shaded by green trees, the villagers picked up the local specialty alpine radish "out of the mountain" to sell... The photo, titled "Out of the Mountain", was taken by Lishui photographer Wu Pinhe in Langshu Village, Sidu Township, Songyang County, and won the bronze medal at the Austrian Super International Photography Salon.

"Because of the rich farming culture of Lishui behind it, this photo has successfully 'gone out of the circle'." Mao Jinjun said that "Out of the Mountain" is one of the many photographic works in Lishui, "Not only local photographers, but more and more overseas photographers are also looking for 'poetry and distance' here." ”

Chilean photographer Pablo Zuleta Zahr is one of those people who loves Lishui. At the 2015 Yeosu Photo Festival, he was awarded the Outstanding Artist of the Festival. At the same time, Yeosu gave a complete exhibition of his works, which he has always remembered.

In the time since, Pablo Zuleta Zahr has been traveling around the world, photographing his works, and hopes that these works will return to the place where the "dream" began, "I hope to put the photographs of all the squares in the world on the stage of the Yeosu Photo Festival, so that every photographer in the world can find the square of their own country." ”

Attracting diverse forces to "join" is one of the goals of the Yeosu Photography Festival, which has gone through 20 years.

The reporter learned that according to the statistics of the Organizing Committee of the 2023 Lishui Photography Festival, the free registration and submission of works for this photography festival has reached a new high, with a total of 63 countries and regions, 182 organizations, 124 universities, and 10391,5117 photographers and curators signed up for the exhibition, with 45865,<> registered exhibitions and <>,<> works.

Seek new 20 years of "starting again" with "numbers"

It is true that photography is the common product of human beings entering modern industrial civilization, science and technology and art, and it is an artistic language and international means of communication that transcends national borders.

In the digital era, photography has become an important medium to meet the needs of the people for a common prosperity and a better life, and to display an important "important window" from professional to public, from career to industry, and from traditional to digital.

In the context of the "14th Five-Year Plan", which depicts the blueprint of "building a digital China", looking forward to the future, how can Lishui borrow digital means to better convey cultural flavor through the lens?

Wang Peiquan, director of the Office of the Organizing Committee of the 2023 Lishui Photography Festival, said in an interview that in the context of the digital age, it is necessary to adhere to consolidating the advantages of Lishui photography culture, gathering high-quality elements of photography, establishing and improving the photography system, leading the country and demonstrating the international in artistic creation, industrial development, digital application, and talent training, "establishing the commanding heights of international academics, innovating and developing the photography industry, and building a complete digital image and related industrial system." ”

Looking back on the past 20 years, the first Lishui Photography Festival has made Lishui, located in southwest Zhejiang, famous for its photography and well-known throughout the country. In 2011, the Lishui Photography Festival organized an expert meeting for the first time; In 2013, the Lishui Photography Festival proposed the "first exhibition system"; In 2015, the Lishui Photography Festival was identified by the State Council as the only photography theme festival named after the "Photography Festival" in China; At the 2021 Yeosu Photo Festival, the 20D digital exhibition hall has become a "masterpiece" of digitalization, opening important exhibitions to photography enthusiasts and photographers around the world anytime and anywhere... Over the past <> years, Lishui has attracted global attention with the help of the Lishui Photography Festival, and the "circle of friends" of Lishui photography culture has become bigger and bigger.

In addition, since 2013, the Yeosu Photo Festival has taken on the form of academic leadership and public participation, especially in 2015, when the famous Brazilian documentary photographer and photojournalist Sebastio Salgado was invited to attend the first International Photography Symposium and held a "full" lecture at the festival.

Nowadays, in the eyes of photographers and curators around the world, the Lishui Photography Festival keeps pace with the times and is moving towards an international, academic, mass and brand direction.

On November 11, the 6 Yeosu Photography Festival was officially held. How to "start again" in 2023 years?

The theme of this year's photography festival is "Image Convergence and Possibility", focusing on the four "degrees" of "height", "depth", "breadth" and "integration".

In particular, in terms of enhancing the degree of integration, this year's photography festival has further strengthened the cross-circle integration of photography, and jointly organized exhibitions, industry exchanges, cooperation signing and other activities with national industry associations, and planned art exhibitions, image product expos, and cultural tourism experience activities around the integration of photography and technology, photography and industry, and photography and the public, so as to deeply transform the cross-border integration effect.

A photograph is not only a picture, but also a story, recording the changes of the city and bringing together all aspects of life. After 20 years of "starting again", Lishui Photography has more confidence and confidence, and will also write a different development story. (ENDS)