薛康：一个摄影家的“摄影+”

今年是科学发现大熊猫和金丝猴150周年，致力于追踪拍摄珍稀动物金丝猴的四川摄影家薛康和“大熊猫摄影师”周孟棋一起，策划出版一本关于金丝猴和大熊猫的“双宝”摄影画册，还计划举办相关展览，把金丝猴和大熊猫的影像带出国门。

薛康65岁了，他奔波各地，一往情深地追踪、寻访拍摄金丝猴，关心、呼吁保护金丝猴，这样的爱好比较“特立独行”。他说，退休后就给自己定了一个目标——要拍好金丝猴。作为摄影家，薛康的作品虽然多次参加各种大展，但是拍摄金丝猴，他是一种“归零的心态”。他不只致力于原生态、自然的金丝猴图片，还积极撰写调研报告和相关提案等。从最初的“摄影好奇”到倾注全力的“呼吁保护”，薛康做了太多“金丝猴摄影+”的工作。

困难是记忆中别致的风景

中国的金丝猴分布在湖北神农架、贵州梵净山、云南香格里拉、四川九寨沟和平武等地，但凡留下金丝猴身影的地方，薛康都去探访过。

野外摄影是一件很艰苦的事情，但在薛康的记忆里，印象深刻的是那一幅幅诗意美景：白雪皑皑的神农架里金丝猴的靓丽、飘越崇山峻岭间的轻盈云彩、森林里绿色的生机……薛康说，最初对拍摄困难估计不充分，“拍金丝猴，你可能去了一天，却没有看到金丝猴，或者金丝猴在树上跳来跳去，根本没法拍。金丝猴自然保护区也不能随便进去，有很多限制”。尽管拍摄中遇到的困难非常多，薛康和他的摄友还是一个个排除解决了。

他们曾经在暴雪后，坐着轮胎挂上链条的大客车，摇摇晃晃地去神农架。山上的气温在零下10摄氏度左右，手指头一露出来，一会儿就冻僵了。他已经记不清去过神农架多少次了，遇到的困难都化为“开心一笑”。

看到新闻报道“在宝兴县海拔3600多米的原始森林发现百余只川金丝猴猴群”，他会兴奋不已地联系研究金丝猴的教授和摄友一起去宝兴。“一大早就进山了，当我们的车开到海拔2700米处的采矿点时，没路可开了，只能徒步上山。”薛康说。上山的路被当地人称为“牦牛走过的路”，他们爬了快6个小时，到海拔3600米处，天已经快黑了。一行10人能够休息的地方只有一间守林人的林间小屋。这间20平方米左右的小屋内，除了做饭的设施和堆放的杂物外，还有一个大通铺。就这样，每人一个睡袋，一个挨一个，睡了一宿。下山时，他们经历了一年四季不同的天气，有小雨，有小雪，一路摔跤，一身黄泥浆，连滚带爬下山。此行让薛康收集到了非常多的素材，了解到很多信息。

薛康拍金丝猴最惊险的一次经历是皮肤里钻进了蜱虫，那是在云南。他的左胸突然出现一团黑色的东西，半夜从住地打车到附近医院急诊。医生告诉他，这是蜱虫，蜱虫有倒钩，钻进去以后，很难弄出来，个别过敏体质者还有可能导致神经麻痹，危及生命。医生尝试用注射器的针头挑出蜱虫，经过近半小时的努力，终于把蜱虫全部挑出来。等再回到住处，已经凌晨1点多了，薛康没有告诉其他同伴，第二天一早跟着同伴又一起上山了。

“困难随时都有可能出现，不能怕困难。”这是薛康对自己的鼓励。对于任何一位从事野外动物摄影的摄影师而言，用“勇敢”去形容他们的品质可能都显得逊色，因为任何困难、险情在他们眼里都成为记忆中别致的风景。

发挥“摄影+”的作用，拉近金丝猴与大众的距离

薛康将自己的热情、温暖、开朗、乐观投注在镜头，为那一只只“乖萌可爱”的金丝猴留下了美丽的瞬间。作品《渴望》里，四只头部棕色、背部灰色的金丝猴簇拥在一起，团坐在一块大岩石上，它们的眼睛望着远方，充满期待；《绿色家园》反映了金丝猴的生活习性——以家庭为单位选择树枝栖息，一棵大树的不同树枝上往往有几个不同的金丝猴家庭；《母子情》里，被母猴抱在怀里的小金丝猴，如婴儿般安宁；《妩媚》中那只独栖的滇金丝猴，樱桃红的厚嘴唇在林间尤为醒目；《小精灵》是对川金丝猴的近景拍摄，环境虚化为蓝白相融的背景图，栖息在枯枝上的金丝猴的金黄色毛发漂亮极了，眼睛水汪汪，画面通透宁静。

“金丝猴特别萌，特别漂亮。它们瞬间的形态非常精彩，一旦拍摄下来，效果都非常好。”薛康在拍摄的过程中，越来越喜欢这些难以寻见的猴群；在了解到金丝猴自然保护区的现状后，更觉身上的责任很重。作为一名集邮爱好者，他还尝试探索一条摄影与集邮相结合的艺术新路，完成了一部金丝猴邮集。“‘生态梦’是中国梦的一个重要组成部分。我希望我的金丝猴影像能够与其他文化形态相结合，以更加新颖的方式加强对金丝猴的保护和宣传。”薛康说。

薛康的首部邮集《金丝猴——生态家园的精灵》6月中旬参加“中国2019世界集邮展”。薛康说，金丝猴的邮票很少，极限片也不多。面对这样少的邮品要编组出一部“邮品面积不少于50%”的5框开放类邮集是很难的，而且开放类沿用专题类的规则，要求“邮品要多国、多品种和时间跨度要大”就更加难上加难了。因此，在编组邮集过程中，他绞尽脑汁想了很多办法，奔波各地广泛收集相关素材。

邮集里，薛康三人在丛林雪地里仰望拍摄——“金丝猴的样子确实可爱，想给它们拍照”；举起大相机拍摄，两只金丝猴蹿肩膀上来了，一只趴在头上，亲摄影师额头呢——“可真不容易，它们常来帮倒忙”……薛康在邮集中选用了19世纪的邮票23枚、各种内容的世界首枚票6枚，时间从1764年至今，前后跨度约350多年。邮集除了常用的封、片、简、票，还采用了马尔雷迪封、册式广告信卡等共44个品种。此外，还收入以薛康的摄影作品为蓝本，由成都蜀绣博物馆馆长杨德全刺绣的金丝猴《妩媚》原件、剪纸传承人白仲会剪纸的金丝猴《幸福一家》原件和来自法国自然历史博物馆的金丝猴模式标本照片等。尤其别具一格的是，邮集还以二维码的形式让读者听到了实地录制的5种情形下的金丝猴“语言”。

这部邮集的文字言简意赅，更多地让素材“说话”，以唤起大众的环保意识和保护濒危物种的责任感，凝聚生态文明建设和中国梦的共识。薛康还特意把自己作为四川省政协委员在四川省十一届五次会议上作出的关于保护川金丝猴的提案及相关部门的回复原件收录其中。

除了忙着拍摄、编组邮集、调研、《双宝画册》出版和摄影展览等之外，薛康还积极倡议并参与四川省《川金丝猴志》的编撰工作。薛康最初的“摄影爱好”因着那份怜惜、关怀，传播金丝猴已然成为他的“中国梦”。这个梦想，正在腾飞。

This year marks the 150thanniversary of the scientific discovery of "Giant Panda" and "Golden Monkey". The photographer Xue Kang from Sichuan,tracking the rare animal golden monkey,and the "Giant Panda Photographer"Zhou Mengqi,jointly publish a "Double Treasure" photography album concerning the two rare animals. They also plan to hold related exhibitions,bringing images of golden monkeys and giant pandas overseas.

The 65-year-old Xue Kang has been traveling all over the country,trying to trace and take pictures of the golden monkey,calling for the protection of the animal with great passion. This kind of hobby is more "maverick". He said,after his retirement,he has set a goal for himself - taking pictures about the golden monkey. As a photographer,Xue Kang has participated in various exhibitions for many times,but he holds a "returning to conscience" mentality. He is not only devoted to taking original pictures of ecological and natural golden monkey,but also proactively writing research reports and related proposals. From the initial "photography of curiosity" to the "calling for protection",Xue has accomplished too much work on " Photography + of Golden Monkey".

Obstacles Are Unique Landscape in Memory

The golden monkeys are distributed in Shennongjia of Hubei,Mount Fanjing of Guizhou,Shangri-La of Yunnan,Jiuzhaigou and Pingwu of Sichuan etc. Xue Kang,has visited all the places that the golden monkeys have lived.

Wildlife photography is a very difficult task,but in Xue's memory,what impressed him most is the poetic beauty: the beautiful shape of golden monkey in the snowy Shennongjia,the light clouds floating in the mountains and the vitality amid the green forest.… Xue said that the initial prediction of difficulty was not enough. "You may spend a whole day without seeing the golden monkey,or the cute animal jumps around the trees,there is no way to take at all. The golden monkey nature reserve is not open to the public as there are many restrictions." Despite the many difficulties encountered in the shooting,Xue and his fellow photographers have resolved them one after another.

They once used to sit on the large tires hang on the bus with chains after the blizzard,swaying side by side to the Shennongjia. The temperature on the mountain was around minus 10 degrees Celsius,and the fingers were frozen after exposing for a while. He could not recall how many times he has been to Shennongjia,but all the difficulties encountered have turned into "happy smiles".

Upon reading the report that "more than a hundred Sichuan golden monkey herbs have been found in the virgin forest at an altitude of more than 3,600 meters in Baoxing County," he was most excited to contact professors and photographers dedicated to the golden monkey to visit Baoxing. "We started to climb the mountain early in the morning. When our car drove to the mining point at 2,700 meters above sea level,there was no way for cars,and we could only walk up the mountain." Xue said. The road up the mountain was called"the road for yaks" by the locals. They climbed for 6 hours and reached an altitude of 3,600 meters. It was already dark.There was only one forest lodge where our group of 10 people could rest. In this 20-square-meter lodge,there was also a large bed in addition to the cooking facilities and the debris. In this way,everyone slept in his sleeping bag for a night. When they went down the mountain,they experienced different weather throughout the year,with light rain,and snow,wrestling all the way with mud all over the body down the mountain. This trip has allowed Xue to collect much material and acknowledge a lot of information.

One of the most thrilling experiences of Xue's golden monkey shooting happened in Yunnan when a tick got into his skin. A black thing suddenly appeared in his left chest then,and he took a taxi from his residence to the hospital for emergency in the middle of the night. The doctor told him that this is a tick,which has barbs. It was most difficult to get rid of them if the insect got deep into the skin. Some individuals with allergies may also have nerve palsy which endangers their life. The doctor tried to pick out the tick with the syringe needle. After nearly half an hour,the tick was finally picked out. When returning to the residence,it was already over 1AM in the morning. Xue Kang did not tell other companions. The next morning,he followed them and went up the mountain together.

"Difficulties may occur at any time,but you shoulen't be afraid of them." This is Xue's encouragement to himself. For any photographer who is engaged in outdoor animal photography,it may be insufficient to use the word "courage" to describe their personality,because any difficulty and danger are in their eyes a unique scene in memory.

"Photography +" Is Playing a Role in Getting the Public Closer to Golden Monkey

Xue Kang has committed his enthusiasm,warmth,cheerfulness and optimism to the camera,leaving beautiful images for each of the cute golden monkeys. In the workHunger,four golden monkeys with brown heads and gray backs are clustered together. The group sits on a large rock,their eyes looking into the distance,full of expectation; theGreen Homereflects the living habits of golden monkeys -they choose branches depending on the scale of family,as different families of golden monkeys sit on different branches of a large tree; InMother and Child,a small golden monkey held by his mother is as peaceful as a baby; the thick cherryred lips of the only Yunnan snub-nosed monkey alone in the forest in the work ofBeautyis particularly eye-catching;The Elfis a close-up shot of the golden snub-nosed monkey,the environment is blurred into a background image with colors of blue and white,reflecting the pretty hair of the cute animal perching on the dead branches,with watery eyes amid tranquility.

"The golden monkeys are so cute,so beautiful. Their instant posing is very exciting. The effect is very good once they are photographed." Xue is more and more fond of these hard-tofind monkeys in the process of photograph shooting; And he felt more responsibility after acknowledging the status quo of the reserve. As a philatelist,he also tried to explore a new art road combining photography and philately,resulting in completing a post collection of gold monkey. "The 'ecological dream' is an important part of the Chinese dream. I hope that my golden monkey image can be combined with other cultural forms to enhance the protection and publicity of the cute animal in a more novel way," Xue said.

Xue's first postal collection,"The Golden Monkey - The Elves of Ecological Homeland" will participate in the "China World Philatelic Exhibition" in mid-June. He said that stamps concerning the golden monkey are quite limited in number and there are not many maximum postcard either. In the face of such a small number of philatelic products,it is very difficult to group a 5-box open-class postal collection with a"postal product area of no less than 50%",and the open-class follows the rules of thematic category,requiring that "the philatelic products should be multi-national,diversified with a wide coverage of time",which is much harder. Therefore,in the process of marshalling the postal collection,he racked his brains and found a lot of solutions to collect relevant materials from all over the country.

In the postal collection,Xue and other two fellows looked up in the snow in the jungle - "The golden monkey looks really cute and we want to take pictures of them"; in front of the standing big camera,two golden monkeys squat on their shoulders,one on the head and kissed forehead of the photographer - "It's not easy,they often do a disservice."Xue chose 23 stamps of the 19thcentury and 6 stamps from his world collection of various subjects. The timespan is,from 1764 to the present,more than 350 years. In addition to the commonly used seals,cards,small papers,and tickets,the postal collection also uses a total of about 44 varieties including Mulready Seals and booklet advertising cards. In addition,it also includes the original of the golden monkey inBeauty,embroidered by Yang Dequan,director of the Chengdu Embroidery Museum,the original of the golden monkey inHappiness Familycut by the paper-cut inheritor Bai Zhonghui,and photos of the golden monkey model specimen from the French Museum of Natural History. What is especially unique is that the postal collection also allows the viewers to hear the golden monkey "language (sounding)"in five situations recorded in the field via the form of a twodimensional code.

The text of this postal collection is much concise,making the materials "speaking" to arouse the public's awareness of environmental protection and responsibility to protect endangered species,and build a consensus on the construction of ecological civilization and the China dream.Xue also deliberately included his proposal to protect the Sichuan Golden Monkey and the original copy of the reply by relevant departments when he was a member of the Sichuan Provincial Political Consultative Conference at the 5thPlenary Session of its 11thConference.

In addition to busy shooting,stamps collecting,researching,publishing of the "Double Treasure" Album and photography exhibitions,Xue Kang also actively advocated and participated in the compilation of "The Annals of Sichuan Golden Monkey". His original "photography hobby" came from his sympathy and love,while "Advocating Golden Monkey" has already become his "China Dream",flying vigorously into the sky.