and Shaolan’s idea of opening a Yulong Photo Studio originated from their 3-year-old son.
In such an era when mobile phones and cameras were so developed, she still regretted that she could not take a photo of her son with her national culture and urban memory.
She remembered her childhood at the Yulong Photo Studio near Baisui Bridge. Her parents took her and her sister to take family photos. The black and white photos recorded all of their colorful life. At that time, the wind was light, the clouds were beautiful, and the ancient city was very simple; at that time, the carriages and horses were very slow, and my parents were still young. When I came to the photo studio, although the black and black photography studio made the young children a little scared, the rumors that "photographs will take away the soul" flashed in my mind from time to time when I faced the camera, I still took the photo timidly.
With a "click", a bright light passed, a beautiful moment for a family was frozen.
Looking through again after many years, the innocent but somewhat fearful look in the old photos is still unforgettable. What is even more unforgettable is that day, the family solemnly treated that moment as a major event in their life, put on the most solemn clothes, and showed the expression they thought was the most appropriate in front of the camera.
Wash the photos and put them in the album, just like the love letter you first love is handed over. After that, you grow up slowly, work, and enter society. You will secretly wash out an extra family photo and put it in your wallet. From canvas wallets to branded wallets, no matter which one the wallet is replaced, you always keep that family photo.
is far away from home, and you will often take it out and look at the smiles of the family when you are sad. No matter how difficult the days seem to be, they will not be so difficult. Occasionally you will take out the photos and rub your fingers on them. In the days after your father passed away, you will always think of him, you will get promoted, have a salary increase, get married, and have a child... You are still like that, and you always want to tell him the good news as soon as possible. That photo has been rubbed and rolled up by you, but some things have survived time, such as longing and attachment.
image, recording the truth of the years. When it comes to photo studios, many old people in Lijiang will think of Yulong Photo Studio. The stars frost and the years are lingering. After the original Yulong Photo Studio is closed for many years, the Naxi tribe and Shaolan have regained this urban memory of Lijiang again.
Lijiang Reader
Copyright: Hong Xuelian
Video: Zhao Guanchun
Editor: Yang Lina
Part of the pictures are provided by the interviewee
"I took photos in the Yulong Photo Studio before, and my mother is too, so I hope my children can have such photos. This photo has national characteristics and my warm memories." He Shaolan said.
Due to the impact of the epidemic, the tourism industry has withered. In June 2021, she took a different approach, pursued her love, and began to prepare for the Yulong Photo Studio.
The initial idea was very simple. I took my son to take photos with Shaolan. No matter how I took photos, I always felt that there was something missing. "Everyone is the same after taking pictures, with tender skin, white, like a little angel. My son was wearing the clothes of a shepherd boy that day, which looked very good, but he didn't feel like he was local to Lijiang."
Compared with the photos she took when she was young, as a photographer, she keenly sensed the potential market demand behind this "sense of loss". "Some people must be like me, wanting to take different photos and some photos with local characteristics, so they have the idea of building a Yulong Photo Studio."
and Shaolan
So, with the support of their family and husband, he Shaolan quickly got involved. She went to find people who had worked in Yulong Photo Studio to find more historical information, but due to the age, the information she obtained was very limited.
"It is said that the earliest Yulong Photo Studio was opened by a Bai nationality boss from Heqing Zouma Gang. It was later reorganized into a private camp. After the relocation, I don’t know where I moved, so I slowly went bankrupt. We went to find the original background cloth and signboard, hoping to restore it, but all of this was gone."
As one of the few photo studios in Lijiang City in the last century, the Yulong Photo Studio can be said to have carried the memories of countless Lijiang people. The background pictures when taking pictures are the most beautiful scenery of Heilongtan "Snow Mountain Reflecting the Pond". In front of this background picture, a family or a family is dressed neatly and sits upright, with the shutter "click" sound, Time was frozen in an instant. At that time, taking photos was a big deal, and many families specially chose to take photos during the Chinese New Year.
After New Year's Eve, they put on new clothes, women put on nasu suits, older men put on dark blue liberating clothes, young men put on white shirts, girls put on yeliang, and everyone was next to each other. There were no exaggerated gestures at that time, and Don’t shout “eggplant”, everyone just stood or sat upright, and then smiled at the camera. The photos taken had an indescribable beauty.
And every year’s Children’s Day is also the peak period when parents are busy taking photos of their children. I didn’t expect that Lijiang’s parents are quite fashionable. In the 1980s, they took photos of their children for growth. The act of recording. Of course, this is limited to the city with relatively good living conditions. Mr. Yang, 47, still remembers the Children's Day in 1981 on June 1st. Because her mother did not rest that day and had no time to take the children to take photos, she cried all morning since she got up. The mother who came home from get off work at noon had no choice but to ask her father to take the children to Yulong Photo Studio to take a photo. In the photo, Mr. Yang, who was still a child, had swollen eyes That's the price she received in exchange for this photo back then!
In order to restore the background wall with a sense of age, she looked through the information with Shaolan and her husband. The husband used oil paintings to restore the background of the Heilongtan back then Photo. They also found some decorations to restore the shooting scenes of the Yulong Photo Studio.
and Shaolan found the photo he took at the Yulong Photo Studio. After more than 40 years, they took the same photo for them again. She sorted the photos and put them in the photo frame to make a "time and space shuttle". Series, using this to connect the old and new Jade Dragon Photo Studios, so that the Lijiang people who come to take photos or consult, can find the beauty of the past.
1 to organize such photos, and often sigh at the power of time with Shaolan. Parents are childhood sweethearts, and the two have gone through countless winds and rains together from young green to wrinkles on their faces. Now Still as loving as before. Their stories need not be said, a photo can be worth more than ten thousand words.
all say that fate is impermanent, and there are very few moments for a person to be truly recorded in his life. He Shaolan said: "If you are a very outstanding talent, this society will help you record, but if you are an ordinary person, if you don't record yourself, no one will help you record it. Life is short, and it is important to record yourself. ”
In April 2022, Yulong Photo Studio opened and worked as a photographer with Shaolan.
Although she was not a professional graduate, she always loved photography. She studied design major in college, and she started to come into contact with cameras early; after graduation, she earned her first reward for extra money, and she did not hesitate to change to Nikon ; Later, when she started the tourism industry, she still maintained the habit of taking photos while busy. The tourism industry withered under the epidemic, and she devoted more time to photography and slowly turned her hobbies into professional expertise.
In 2022, the works taken with Shaolan won gold medals in the international photography competition. From the winning works, you can deeply feel the style of this local photographer in Lijiang.
"Flowers and Skirts" Photography: Heshaolan (Lijiang, Yunnan) 2022 Singapore Golden Tiger International Photography Salon Tour DigiRap Division Color Digital Public Group PhotoVivo Gold Medal
"Snow Mountains and Poetry" Photography: Heshaolan (Lijiang, Yunnan) 2022 Malaysia Bugis International Photography Salon Tour Digirap Division Black and White Digital Group APAS Gold Medal
After the photo studio was restored, many locals contacted her and they shared the photos they took at Yulong Photo Studio. It was only half a year since its opening, and people have successively found her from different channels to shoot.
does not go out to the outside, does not over-retouch the photos, and focuses on documentary, maintains the authenticity of the characters, and Shaolan's insistence on retro photography style has also been recognized by more people. She also cherishes the wrinkles on the face of the photographed person. "I am old and growing so many wrinkles is a special time-consuming thing. People say that every wrinkle is an experience of life and deserves to be carefully recorded."
Among the customers coming and going, more and more people touched her.
and Shaolan remember the young girl who looked as beautiful as Yin Tao . The girl had just graduated from college and got her first salary in her life. She did not choose to celebrate in other ways, but took her grandparents to take a group photo. Before the filming, the girl specifically told Shaolan not to tell the old man about the price, for fear that they would not come to the filming after they knew it, because the old man felt sorry for the girl and couldn't bear to spend money on them.
"It makes sense to take the first salary in life to take photos of your family. When you pick up this photo, and after many years, her heart will be richer."
She also remembers the couple in her 70s who were from Shigu . They have been married for more than 40 years and have never taken wedding photos. Now that the conditions have improved, my son brought the old couple to take the photos. "I remember it very clearly at that time. The old lady didn't bring her clothes for the first time, and then went back to get the clothes. The second time she came, she felt that her hair was too long, so she went to get her hair back and forth several times, but the two of them were not impatient at all."
"clicked" the shutter, and he Shaolan felt that he had pulled the old couple back thirty or forty years ago. At that time, there was only love, only the first-time family, and no children. Now the two old men have gone through the years, and have children, and their children have their own families, and their lives are full of life. "So, no matter what state life is, it's good to record it."
There is also the 80-year-old lady wearing her mother-in-law's clothes to take personal photos.
The old lady is a retired doctor and is wearing a Nasui suit, which is very special because her Nasui suit is very old-fashioned, with a very beautiful braid on her collar, and she couldn't help but praise her.
"I said to her 'Your clothes are beautiful', and she said 'Thank you, this is my mother-in-law'.' I was amazed at that time because she was very beautiful and charming, and you can feel that she is very happy, and her mother-in-law is also very happy. Think about it, she is nearly 80 years old, and her mother-in-law must have been away for a long time, but she used this way to commemorate it, and she felt that this person was still by her side."
Most of the customers who came were middle-aged in their 40s, some brought their parents and some brought their children. In their memories of the Yuan Yulong Photo Studio, they connected each other again.
From the perspective of business decision-making, wedding photography and travel photography shops are now blooming everywhere, and personal photo studios are highly competitive. Being able to set up special photo studios according to the needs of locals will undoubtedly require greater risks.
In this regard, Shaolan gave himself a three-year deadline. In any case, he would last for these three years first. "Yulong Photo Studio is a memory of generations. We hope not to break it, so I also told my employees that we must persist, for at least three years."
There are so many photographers in Lijiang, why are you here to build Yulong Photo Studio?
"I don't know either, but I do it as soon as I want to.In fact, we have been in a loss since the opening of the business. After all, it will take a certain amount of time to let everyone know that the Yulong Photo Studio is still there. I believe the market will gradually improve. "
In the era when the images were still in film, the photo studio solidified countless moments with lenses. However, at the moment when information explosion and short videos dominated the eye, a photo worth remembering of individuals became scarce. When the recording method was too easy, the recorded content seemed bloated, and the sense of lack of urban memory became more and more obvious under this rapid change.
may be just the restoration of an old photo studio, or just the restoration of an old restaurant or an old bookstore. When these old times were picked up by nostalgic people, this is a kind of respect for urban memory and culture, and it also allows people from different generations to reach each other.
