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City dreamers
城市上空追夢人
I am an enterprise manager at the Shanghai Construction Engineering Group, and photography is my biggest hobby, taking up most of my spare time. It has been dozens of years since I bought the Seagull DF1, the first camera in my life, with the six months of income I saved in 1984.
By chance, I participated in a photography activity on the theme of “Finding the Most Beautiful People”. During my exploration, I suddenly realized and discovered around me a group of such beautiful people - the construction builders in the city. As a member of the construction industry, it gives me an inbuilt advantage than outsiders, and I also have the responsibility and obligation to the public by record the worthwhile endeavor of these builders.
From then on, I began to focus on photographing urban construction and the builders, especially now that China’s development has attracted world attention and admiration. The era of great development has created space and potential for the art of photography, and it has also nurtured the public with lots of wonderful and touching moments.
In recent years, I have been mainly focused on photographing urban high-rise construction, as skyscrapers are the representatives of urban elements. In these buildings the spirit and wisdom of the modern builders are on full display, and all such fresh faces reveal the trajectory of urban development.
This group of photos is a selection of tens of thousands of photos I have taken over a period of more than four years taking advantage of various opportunities. It is also a representative work of my Architect series of documentary photography. In pursuit of the authenticity of the photos, I often get up earlier and return home later than the builders, greet the first ray of light in the city in the morning, and feel the splendor of urban neon in the night.
Of course, concentration alone is not the guarantee of quality photos, but sincerity and perseverance are needed to capture the simplicity and sincerity of these city builders. Among the selected photos, the photographing experience at the construction site of the Qiantan Center Building in Shanghai Pudong Free Trade Zone touched me very much deep.
At the beginning of the filming, the workers often asked me to leave for reasons such as affecting their work. I used my professional knowledge as a national registered supervision engineer with more than 20 years of experience to discuss with them the various issues encountered in construction and installation operations. They also provided reasonable suggestions many times to help solve some small problems on the spot.
Gradually, their attitude changed. Coupled with the habit of going to the construction site for many years, I always rushed to the construction site to take pictures for everyone during holiday, so that the builders can share it with their families. In this way, everyone began to accept me and I thus became the “director photographer” of the workers. Moreover, as time goes by, they all know my focus, and they would even take the initiative to call me at every key construction period and invite me to take photos.
Another time I was particularly moved was during the filming of Elevated Neon. I kept photographing from noon to evening. I always felt that the light was not in place, and I hadn’t caught the scene of the neon flow in the picture. After knowing my thoughts, they took the initiative to work overtime to accompany me to complete the shooting. Looking back on those days, I believe what I harvest most is not the work itself, but the friendship of thousands of builders.
Today, Shanghai has become one of the most dazzling cities on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. Modernization has made the city more attractive than ever, and the city has made people’s lives more and more exciting. For me, a person who witnesses and records the changes of the times is fortunate. As long as there is a spirit of perseverance and innovation, all efforts will be full of vitality. With the cloud as my company, I am looking for new landmarks in the city between the sky and the earth; together with the focus, I am seeking new memories of the times in every inch.
我是上海建工集團旗下的企業(yè)管理者，最大的興趣愛好就是攝影。1984年，我用積蓄的半年工資買了人生中第一臺相機海鷗DF-1。在一個偶然的機會，參加了“尋找最美的人”主題攝影活動。在拍攝過程中，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己身邊就有一群“最美的人”——工程建設者。作為建設行業(yè)的一員，我比業(yè)外人員有更好的拍攝條件，也有責任和義務向大眾展現(xiàn)建設者的情懷。
從此，我開始專注于“城市建設與建設者”的拍攝，特別是如今的中國發(fā)展速度令人嘆為觀止，大發(fā)展時代為拍攝創(chuàng)造了良好空間，也孕育了許許多多的感動。近年來，我主要拍攝城市超高層建設，因為摩天大樓是城市價值觀的代表，不僅能全面展示現(xiàn)代建設者的精神與智慧，也是城市發(fā)展的新形象、新軌跡。
本組照片是我歷時四年多時間，利用各種機會拍攝的上萬幅照片中精選出來的，也是我“筑”系列紀實攝影的代表作品。為了追求照片的真實性，我經(jīng)常比建設者起得更早、歸得更晚，在晨曦中迎接都市第一縷光芒，在黑夜中感受都市霓虹的絢爛。當然，光靠專注是遠遠不夠的，還需要用真誠與執(zhí)著，這樣才能得到工友們滿滿的樸實與真情。
上海市浦東自由貿(mào)易區(qū)前灘中心大廈建設工地的拍攝經(jīng)歷就讓我感觸頗深。剛開始，工友們經(jīng)常以影響他們工作等理由請我離開，我就利用我作為一名從業(yè)二十幾年的國家注冊監(jiān)理工程師的專業(yè)知識經(jīng)常和他們探討施工安裝作業(yè)中碰到的各種質(zhì)量安全問題，也多次提供合理化建議，幫助解決一些現(xiàn)場小問題。
慢慢地，他們的態(tài)度改變了。再加上多年的走工地習慣，每逢節(jié)假日，我總會趕到工地給大家拍照，讓建設者們可以分享給自己的家人。就這樣，大家開始接受我，并變成工友們口中的“總監(jiān)攝影師”。隨著相處時間的推移，他們都知道我的關注點，每到關鍵建設環(huán)節(jié)都還會主動打電話給我，邀請我去拍攝。
特別感動的還有一次，在拍攝“高架霓虹”時，我從中午拍攝到傍晚，總覺得光線不到位，還未抓到畫面有霓虹的流動感覺，工友們知道我的想法后，他們主動加班陪我一起完成拍攝。回首這些拍攝的經(jīng)歷，我強烈感受到：我收獲最珍貴的不是作品本身，而是成千上萬建設者的友情。
今天的上海已成為太平洋西岸最耀眼的城市之一，現(xiàn)代化建設讓城市魅力前所未有，人們生活越來越精彩。對于我，一個專注時代變遷的親歷者、記錄者是幸運的，只要有鍥而不舍、勇于創(chuàng)新的專注精神，所有的努力一定會有生命力。以云彩作伴，在天地間尋找城市新地標；與專注為伍，在方寸間追尋時代的新記憶。
圖一：Raffles City on the North Bund, Tilan Bridge area, Hongkou district, Shanghai (263 meters high, 50 floors). Structure installation workers hoist steel components.
上海市虹口區(qū)提籃橋北外灘來福士廣場建設工地（高度263米50層），鋼結構安裝工人在吊裝鋼構件。（2017年1月15日攝）
圖二：Tower crane standard section lifting on Suhewan Center (204 meters high, 43 floors), Jing’an district, Shanghai.
上海市靜安區(qū)蘇河灣中心大樓建設工地（高度204米43層），安裝工人在準備進行塔吊標準節(jié)頂升。（2020年10月25日攝）
圖三：The BRICS New Development Bank Headquarters Building (150 meters high, 30 floors) in Shanghai Pudong Free Trade Zone. The tower crane driver controls the boom over the Expo Park site.
上海市浦東自由貿(mào)易區(qū)金磚國家新開發(fā)銀行總部大樓建設工地（高度150米30層），塔吊司機在世博園上空操控動臂塔吊。（2019年7月14日攝）
圖四：Outer steel frame installation on Gao Shang Domain (51 storeys, 280 meters high), Tongchuan Road, Putuo district, Shanghai.
上海市普陀區(qū)銅川路高尚?領域建設工地（高度280米51層），工人在吊裝外框鋼結構主梁。（2018年10月13日攝）
圖五： Workers coordinate steel components in place on Raffles City.
上海市虹口區(qū)提籃橋北外灘來福士廣場建設工地，工人合力確保鋼構件就位。（2017年1月15日攝）
圖六：Steel structure hoisting on Qiantan Center (280 meters, 56 floors).?
上海市浦東自由貿(mào)易區(qū)前灘中心大廈建設工地（高度280米56層），工人在進行大廈塔冠鋼結構吊裝。（2018年7月30日攝）
圖七：Workers have lunch on top of Qiantan Center.
上海市浦東自由貿(mào)易區(qū)前灘中心大廈建設工地，工人就地午餐。（2019年4月13日攝）
圖八：Hu Zhimin takes advantage of the work break to take pictures for the workers on Gao Shang Domain.
上海市普陀區(qū)銅川路高尚?領域建設工地，攝影師利用施工間隙為工友留影。（2020年9月24日攝）
