HTML version by Oleksandr Svirchevskyy

LISHUI: CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHERS’ HOMELAND

LIU SHUIBAO, ONUG

Lishui is a city located in the southwest of Zhejiang province, including 9 counties with a population of 2.5 million and a surface of 17,300 square kilometers. It is a land of green hills and crystal spring water, floating in a sea of cloud and mist. Its people are honest, friendly, generous and hospitable. There are numerous scenic spots crisscrossed with footpaths, luxuriant with bamboo and woods, dotted with farms and houses, where local people lead an idyllic life in a harmonious neighborhood without any lock on doors, which are always open.

In terms of economic development, it ranks last but except for one in the whole province. However, thanks to the abovementioned folk customs and natural beauty, it has been the Mecca for men of letters since ancient times. Some twenty years ago, photographers of both its country and worldwide began to show great interest in this region because its “green valley” and climate as well as its rising hills and mountains are an ideal combination for photo-taking. Today it has become the base for Chinese photographers. A great many works that have won prizes are created here. And many local people are interested in photography too. A joke says that 8 out of 10 people in Lishui are photographers and of the remaining two, one is a student in photography and the other, a photographic professor.

That is definitely exaggerating a little bit, but the fact is that almost everybody is fond of photography, which is taught in primary school. There are more than 20 grass-roots photographic organizations in Lishui with over 1000 photographers, among whom 60 are members of China Photographers’ Association and 150 are members of Zhejiang Photographers’ Association. In 1999 for the first time in the history of both Lishui and China, Lishui was named as “the homeland of Photographers” for its achievement in photographic world and rich resources for photography. The Eleventh International Photographic Art Exhibition was held there last year. This exhibition is held every two years and the next four have been scheduled to take place in Lishui in 8 coming years.

I did not know this place until my recent trip there. By luck or rather by accident, I took part in an organized trip of 12 world famous photographers to Lishui. Originally, I planned to visit Xinjiang province, China, but the organizer changed at short notice the whole itinerary for me in such a way that left me with only a Yes or No option.

I accepted the trip because both “the homeland of photographers” and these famous guys rekindled my earlier interest in photography. And it turned out to be a wonderful trip and exciting experience.

First and foremost, people here are very warm and friendly. Most of them smile at us when we take a picture of them. Those who have a camera with them also shoot one or two shots at us or ask us to have a picture taken with them.

The landscape is ideal for photography although sometimes one needs to wait for the right moment. Autumn is one of the ideal seasons to visit Lishui. We were especially lucky because we came in the festival period – Chinese National Day (1 October) and the Chinese Moon festival (this year it falls on 6 October). The festival lasted for the whole week, so wherever we went, it was celebration, marriage ceremony and family reunions, with fireworks everywhere.

As this region is less developed, it is thus less polluted. Its pure spring water, fresh mountainous air and bio vegetables and other food made us feel healthier after the trip.

At the end of our trip, a new worldwide association was founded: WWFPA-World Wide Famous Photographers Association. A tiny island in Hushan Lake, Lishui, was chosen as the headquarters of this association. Its annual general assembly is held here and highcalibre photographers are most welcome.