2003年法国文化部收藏了十三位中国艺术家的影像作品，并于中法文化年期间先后在巴黎蓬皮杜艺术中心和中国平遥等地展出。我受法国文化部委托拍摄了反映中国戏曲文化的民间手工艺珍品《纱阁戏人》。

　　摄影术的发源地在法国，他们对摄影艺术本质特性有深刻的认知，在选择影像收藏品时他们特别注意到本土文化和地域文献的重要性。这次收藏就有《纱阁戏人》和《山西古戏台》两组有关中国戏曲文化历史的影像作品。

　　中国的戏曲艺术历史悠久，是中华文明传承中的重要组成部分，它与古希腊悲喜剧、印度梵剧并称为世界三大古老的戏剧文化。中国古典戏曲的形成，最早可以追溯至秦汉时代，在其漫长的发展过程中，曾先后出现了宋元南戏、元代杂剧、明清传奇、清代地方戏及近、现代戏曲等四种基本形式。全国大致有360多个剧种。平遥《纱阁戏人》是集绘画、雕塑、书法、剪纸等技艺为一体的独特民间艺术。它以这种特殊的民间手工艺技法，再现和纪录了明末清初中国戏曲转向民间化和通俗化的现状。透过这小小的舞台，演绎着中国上下五千年的历史故事。《纱阁戏人》是经过民间艺人的手艺对中国戏曲文化历史的纪录和收藏，而通过艺术家使用影像的审视和纪录形则成了一种再收藏，影像是当代文化传播中最有效的艺术形式。

　　法国文化部之所以委托我来拍摄《纱阁戏人》是因为看到我用八年时间完成的环境肖像系列作品《主人》画册之后决定的，这也是一部收藏中国农民生存史的系列作品。巧合的是，1985年至1995年这期间我一直在为编辑完成《河南戏曲志》一书在拍摄戏曲文物和民间戏曲。这一时期我对摄影的纪录特性和摄影于历史文献的关系有了初步的了解。因此当法国文化部国家艺术中心的阿尼亚兹女士和我在北京昆仑饭店讨论这部收藏作品时我们是一拍即合，很快达成共识。

　　我有过在任何复杂条件下拍摄文物的经历，技术对我来说不是问题。但真正进入实际拍摄现场，发现比我想象的要困难的多。28组《纱阁戏人》摆放在平遥清虚观的一间混暗的偏房里，虽然得到批准拍照，但不能挪动木箱和打开玻璃。我为了躲避玻璃的反光，临时买了两支200瓦普通灯泡和两个反光伞，在戏人前方45度角各放一支灯，一远一近就算主光和辅助光了。

　　为避免变形我使用玛咪雅RB67相机90毫米镜头拍摄。《纱阁戏人》由于历经几百年的岁月，身上落满了灰尘，加之室内仅有的几只日光灯管照射，更显的有些阴森和沉寂。但是当我架好相机，打开暖调的灯光从取景器近距离观看的那一瞬间，我眼前一亮!历史好像在重演，人物仿佛在动，真的是身临其境，似乎可以听到文武场的声音……

　　影像的观看和肉眼的观看是有差异的。慎重起见，我用了日光和灯光型两种反转片同时拍摄(两个后背)，并且在北京两个不同的冲印店冲洗。但我最终放大作品时还是选择了灯光型胶片，因为它有控制的还原了文物的色彩。

　　摄影是一个记忆与观看的艺术，同时也是对人类生存史的最佳收藏方式。

　　我希望这些在“纱阁”中沉睡多年的“戏人”苏醒过来，通过影像艺术的再传播，让世界了解中国的历史并同享中国戏曲的文化精髓!

　　2010 年1月22日

　　Photography and Collection

　　In 2003 the French Ministry of Culture collected the works of thirteen Chinese artists, to be exhibited during the coming China-France Culture Years (2003-2005), first at the Pompidou Center in Paris, then at the Pingyao Festival, as well as other venues. As part of the collection I was commissioned to photograph an unusual treasure of Chinese arts and crafts: the Opera Dolls called “SHAGE XIREN”.

　　France is recognized as the birthplace of photography, and the French people in general, do seem to have a deep understanding of the artistic value of photography. So in the selection process the importance of documentation of the local or regional culture was taken into consideration to justify two series of photographic works relative to Chinese opera: “the SHAGE Opera Dolls” and “Ancient Shanxi Theater” were finally collected by the French Ministry.

　　Opera art has a long history in Chinese civilization as an important part of our cultural heritage. Together with the Greek tragicomedy and the Indian mythological drama it forms the world’s three oldest kinds of dramaturgy. The formation of the earliest Chinese classical opera can be traced back to the Qin and Han dynasties. In its long development, it has evolved into the four basic forms of Chinese opera, including the Southern Song theater and Yuan dynasty acrobatics; the legendary plays of the Ming and Qing dynasties; the Qing regional opera; and the contemporary modern opera. Overall, there are more than 360 different operas across the country. The SHAGE XIREN from Pingyao is a combination of painting, sculpture, calligraphy, paper cutting and other arts and crafts, creating a unique folk art that represents and documents the generalization and popularization of opera in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Yet the miniature stage is big enough to let us see the interpretation of China’s five thousand years of history and episodes. If “SHAGE” is both a documentary and a collection of Chinese operatic plays, through the photographer’s lens they become a recollection. Photography, no doubt, remains the most effective art form of today’s cultural dissemination.

　　The French Ministry of Culture decided to commission me for this SHAGE project after having seen my book Masters, a series of farmers’ portraits photographed in their interiors, a documentary project that had taken me eight years to complete. Coincidentally, from 1985 to 1995, as the editor of another book The Henan Opera Annals I had extensively photographed different folk theaters and operas. That experience provided me with an initial understanding of the documentary character of photography and its contribution to historical preservation. In this context we reached consensus right away at our first discussion at the Kunlun Hotel of Beijing, with Agnès de Gouvion Saint Cyr from the French Ministry of Culture.

　　Since I had experiences of photographing under complicated circumstances, I believed that technical issues would not be a problem for me. But the conditions when I started the actual shooting appeared to be far more difficult than I had imagined. The twenty eight wooden boxes of SHAGE were stored in a forlorn and dark room in the Taoist Temple of Pingyao. In spite of the authorization to take pictures, I was not allowed to manipulate the boxes in any way or to remove the glass panes. To avoid reflection on the glass I went out to buy two 200-watt light bulbs and an anti-reflection umbrella. I placed each light bulb at a forty-five degree angle to the box, one closer up and one further away to create main and secondary lighting. To prevent distortion the camera I chose to use was a Mamiya RB67 with a 90mm lens. Those SHAGE opera figurines, after a century of neglect, were covered with dust, and looked even more eerie and gloomy under the poor light of the few neon tubes. But after I stabilized the camera on a tripod and switched on the warm tone lights, I attempted a close look through the viewfinder. Here the opera dolls suddenly sprung to life. History seemed to repeat itself, the characters looking as if they were moving and gesturing. I was thrust into the middle of the performance and could almost hear the sounds of the fighting and melodies of the singing.

　　Since I could not trust my naked eye, I used two types of slide film, one for daylight and one for indoor light; then had them developed at two different labs in Beijing. In the end I chose the film with indoor lighting, for its superior control and capacity to restore the colors of the artifacts.

　　Photography is an art of memory and observation, but it is also the best way to collect the history of mankind’s existence.

　　I hope that these hundred-year-old sleeping actors of SHAGE will awake soon, to be revived through the photographic art

　　Jiang Jian

　　2010 01 22