RIP Ren Hang, 任航

中國攝影師及詩人任航2017年2月24日晚上離世，29歲不是正該開始瀟灑的年紀，除了遺憾還有種忿忿不平的情緒。任航用攝影記錄的時期，仍是前衛藝術家在體制下難以奔馳的年代，但他說他並非想挑戰體制，而是相信裸的事物即是現實。他的攝影作品風格強烈，都像在挑戰觀者不願公開或是壓抑的面目，VICE 雜誌的專訪中也曾說: "人們是裸體地進入世界的，所以我認為裸體就是人類最基本的狀態與樣貌。我在裸露的肉體中可以感受到人們存在的重量。" 

任航對攝影上的情感依賴，對世俗的無所寄託，這樣百無聊賴的輕挑與鬱鬱慵懶的氣場在作品裡都看得見。他的影像包圍在美麗卻也銳利的氛圍裡，充斥著裸露的肉體卻讓你感覺不到一絲色情，大膽運用人體的排列和自然合而為一。無論是他寫的短篇詩或是裸體影像，在他過世的今天看起來，更像在呼應著情慾是一種掙扎，生命則是一種即逝，如果誠實是一種美德，那任航無疑是曾盛開的璀璨。日本攝影師荒木經惟說過“相機裡擁有兩種慾望，一種是想拍攝的欲求和慾望，另一種是想要公諸於世，把祕密分享出去的慾望。” 任航透過攝影與文字，坦承的紀錄他面對世界那真實存在的每一幕構圖與每一段思想，向我們揭示著因慾望而無畏，生命中的不可承受之輕也許就是生命本身，因為在任航選擇從世界逃跑後的現在，我們再一次觀賞著他留下的影像，看見他對美的堅持與才華更深深體會到他留下生命的重量。

The acclaimed Chinese photographer and poet, Ren Hang, took his life at the age of 29. For an age so young and full of life, he has left us with feelings of remorse and unease. Ren transformed photography by transforming the human body — no part was safe from his subversion. Testicles stretched, breasts morphed, disembodied heads floated in bathtubs. Though his models were always naked, often adorned with snakes, flowers, fish, peacocks, or fruit, I have never actually found Ren’s work to be all that illicit. Instead, each image was like a boiled down essence of creative joy and extreme intimacy — a playful rethinking of sex and the human form. 

Ren's active times is still an era in China where freedom of expressions are challenged, and provocative messages are condemned. His photos have caused him to be arrested and banned from showings. Ren continued to insist, his desire to capture such moments stemmed from a natural impulse, rather than an intention to shock; he believes that being naked brings him closer to reality. In an interview with VICE magazine, he stated, "nude is how we came into the world, so I believe nudity is the nature of our state and being. Within bare skin and flesh, it is as if he can feel the weight of each and one of us." Ren's photography and poetry express what is considered to him, authentic compositions of being and life. Looking through his lens, we are obliged to experience the breadth of living. 

《爱情》 
看一下手机， 
没有你的信息。

2016.12.11

《恐惧》
被别人说：“我终于看清了你的真面目”，
有什么可怕的，
如果有一天被自己看清了自己的真面目，
那才可怕。

2011.08.12

《人民广场》
就像一个放风的地方
但是好多人都把它当成放风筝的地方
还觉得自己很自由

2012.04.18

《我想走出去》
从地上走到天上去
走到天上的地上去

晚饭之前再走回来

2011.12.28

《打雷》
有时候打雷
不是要下雨
而是要吓人

2014.12.03

《你看到的黑夜》
并不是真正的黑夜
那是我臃肿的影子

2012.05.08

《看电视》
你在看电视的时候
其实电视也在看你
你在看世界的时候
其实世界也在看你
因为你经常看他们
他们才会经常看你

你看他们的时候
经常会感到悲伤
其实你也想知道
他们看你的时候
是什么样的感受

2013.05.09

任航, Ren Hang
Renhang.org

Black and White

Nowadays, I’ve mainly been shooting with my ContaxT2. I'm not a photographer, or anything; however, I do enjoy snapping this and that while casually walking down the street or some alleyway. The quality and process of shooting with film is incomparable to digital - not being able to immediately see what was captured is, in some ways, enlightening. You could say that I’m a bit of an old spirit. Waiting for the rolls to be developed adds to the experience of shooting with film. I even enjoy randomly browsing through those out of focus, under or overexposed moments. While organizing the rolls accumulated since I have started, I had an idea to put together posts using these, something like recollections through film photo. I got excited and dug out leaves pressed in some book last year, scanned them in and started fiddling. So here goes the first, hope you would enjoy it with us. xx

發現最近自己幾乎是用底片相機在拍照，雖然不是專業攝影師但喜歡隨身口袋裡去到哪都帶著底片相機，方便即時記錄每天生活中遇見的人物街景、 甚至是一瞬間。喜歡按下快門後無法立刻看自己究竟拍到了什麼，有時底片會不經意的曝光、或是塵粒在光線下預期外的明顯，還有每次等待底片洗出來前的期待，這些都是讓我格外享受用傳統底片相機拍照的樂趣。翻翻一直以來累積的照片，讓我想好好的整理他們，用底片機拍下的記憶和一些無所謂卻最真實的日常記錄。想到這裡開始有點興奮翻開去年秋天我夾在書裡的落葉 (經過一年很多都碎了)，把它們傳進電腦裡用剩下的幾片小葉開始亂擺，同樣的一片落葉卻是不同的秋天。這是首篇，希望在看的你也跟我們一起enjoy囉。

“Sometimes it happens that you stall, delay, wait for something to happen. Sometimes you have the feeling that here are all the makings of a picture – except for just one thing that seems to be missing. But what one thing? Perhaps someone suddenly walks into your range of view. You follow his progress through the viewfinder. You wait and wait, and then finally you press the button – and you depart with the feeling (though you don’t know why) that you’ve really got something.”

— Henri Cartier-Bresson


"有時候不盡滿意，我們便會動也不動，等待什麼事情發生；有時整個畫面都鬆散了，拍不到好照片幾已成為定局，突然有個人從眼前經過，我們透過觀景窗跟隨他的路徑，我們等待、再等待……然後按下快門，至此才帶著背包裡好像裝了一些東西的感覺離開。"

—亨利‧卡提耶-布列松

Photos taken with
Tri-X400 using Contax T2.