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A photographer's photographer
July 7, 2010, Wednesday
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NOTED photographer Xu Jian is recognized on the international stage, he judges the prestigious Trierenberg Super Circuit and travels around Europe, taking super photos and eating instant noodles. Wang Jie reports.
Winning an award at the Trierenberg Super Circuit is the dream of every Chinese photographer, but Xu Jian garnered much more.
For quite a few years he has been on the jury for the prestigious global photo competition.
A native of Hangzhou, Xu is a contract photographer for Getty Images, the world's biggest photo database.
Xu, who works in foreign trade, speaks fluent English and occasionally translates articles on photography.
He started to shoot pictures in 1994, and two years later, he submitted his photos to the prestigious Trierenberg Super Circuit.
The circuit, formerly the Austrian Super Circuit, is by far the world's largest salon of photography. It is based in Hasselblad, Austria, and in recent years has attracted hundreds of thousands of pictures.
The annual competition aims to exhibit the finest work in different styles, techniques and genres.
"I was lucky to be the first Chinese mainland photographer who garnered two golden medals there," says Xu, who is around 55.
In 2001 the Trierenberg president invited Xu to sit on the jury for the following year, when a special award for Chinese photographers was established. He has been on the jury almost every year since then.
"They chose me based on my language advantage and technique experience," Xu says.
Every year Xu makes a special trip to Linz in Austria to translate voluminous materials from Chinese photographers for the jury members.
"Sometimes I have to work till midnight, but I am very glad to see Chinese photographers shine in the international photo competition through my paperwork," he says.
Every year, after finishing his jury work, Xu packs his cameras and bags and takes his own photography trip, visiting one or two countries.
"I'm not a tourist. I see the world through my lens instead of my eyes," he says.
For example, when he arrived at Van Gogh's famous cafe terrace, he shot nearly the same scene on Van Gogh's canvas painted in 1888.
"But I found it wasn't the same as in the painting, so I adjusted and found exactly the angle from which Van Gogh saw the scene," he says.
In recent years Xu visited Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and other European countries.
At first he took trains and buses, but later found that he preferred traveling alone, driving.
The lights and shadows at dawn and dusk are preferred by most photographers, but Xu says he's sometimes too tired to catch the earliest morning light. Thanks to the long summer in Europe, he can work from around 5pm-8pm.
"I have hardly ever taken any dawn pictures," he says.
European hotels are a big expense and 100 euros (US$126) a night is not easy to manage, especially on a long trip.
"But I have no choice," he says. "Since I carry heavy luggage with all my equipment, I only stay at hotels near the train station or downtown area."
He scrimps on his meals and eats instant noodles.
"It's a big contrast - 1-euro instant noodles and 100-euro hotels," he jokes.
Asked about memorable experiences, Xu remembers a dentist in Linz who collects vintage autos and asked Xu to create a calendar.
"Just imagine 18 old cars in front of a big 500-year-old house," he recalls, citing Porsches, Jaguars, MGs and others. "And the dentist raised 30 chickens, 17 cats, two dogs and a bunch of rabbits."
Later the dentist drove Xu in his limousine around the countryside.
"Kids saluted us when our car passed and an old lady asked for a picture. It was an amazing experience," he says.
As he wandered the seaside at Cannes, France, he was thrilled to see Natalie Portman and George Lucas visiting to attend the premiere of a "Star Wars" movie.
"Of course, I finally shot a photo for my idols, very, very accidentally," he smiles.
Winning an award at the Trierenberg Super Circuit is the dream of every Chinese photographer, but Xu Jian garnered much more.
For quite a few years he has been on the jury for the prestigious global photo competition.
A native of Hangzhou, Xu is a contract photographer for Getty Images, the world's biggest photo database.
Xu, who works in foreign trade, speaks fluent English and occasionally translates articles on photography.
He started to shoot pictures in 1994, and two years later, he submitted his photos to the prestigious Trierenberg Super Circuit.
The circuit, formerly the Austrian Super Circuit, is by far the world's largest salon of photography. It is based in Hasselblad, Austria, and in recent years has attracted hundreds of thousands of pictures.
The annual competition aims to exhibit the finest work in different styles, techniques and genres.
"I was lucky to be the first Chinese mainland photographer who garnered two golden medals there," says Xu, who is around 55.
In 2001 the Trierenberg president invited Xu to sit on the jury for the following year, when a special award for Chinese photographers was established. He has been on the jury almost every year since then.
"They chose me based on my language advantage and technique experience," Xu says.
Every year Xu makes a special trip to Linz in Austria to translate voluminous materials from Chinese photographers for the jury members.
"Sometimes I have to work till midnight, but I am very glad to see Chinese photographers shine in the international photo competition through my paperwork," he says.
Every year, after finishing his jury work, Xu packs his cameras and bags and takes his own photography trip, visiting one or two countries.
"I'm not a tourist. I see the world through my lens instead of my eyes," he says.
For example, when he arrived at Van Gogh's famous cafe terrace, he shot nearly the same scene on Van Gogh's canvas painted in 1888.
"But I found it wasn't the same as in the painting, so I adjusted and found exactly the angle from which Van Gogh saw the scene," he says.
In recent years Xu visited Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and other European countries.
At first he took trains and buses, but later found that he preferred traveling alone, driving.
The lights and shadows at dawn and dusk are preferred by most photographers, but Xu says he's sometimes too tired to catch the earliest morning light. Thanks to the long summer in Europe, he can work from around 5pm-8pm.
"I have hardly ever taken any dawn pictures," he says.
European hotels are a big expense and 100 euros (US$126) a night is not easy to manage, especially on a long trip.
"But I have no choice," he says. "Since I carry heavy luggage with all my equipment, I only stay at hotels near the train station or downtown area."
He scrimps on his meals and eats instant noodles.
"It's a big contrast - 1-euro instant noodles and 100-euro hotels," he jokes.
Asked about memorable experiences, Xu remembers a dentist in Linz who collects vintage autos and asked Xu to create a calendar.
"Just imagine 18 old cars in front of a big 500-year-old house," he recalls, citing Porsches, Jaguars, MGs and others. "And the dentist raised 30 chickens, 17 cats, two dogs and a bunch of rabbits."
Later the dentist drove Xu in his limousine around the countryside.
"Kids saluted us when our car passed and an old lady asked for a picture. It was an amazing experience," he says.
As he wandered the seaside at Cannes, France, he was thrilled to see Natalie Portman and George Lucas visiting to attend the premiere of a "Star Wars" movie.
"Of course, I finally shot a photo for my idols, very, very accidentally," he smiles.
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