I was born at the seaside (Nice, France)
The first time I came to China, the flight arrived at 5:00 am
We went to Tiananmen Square straight away
The flag raising ceremony was so touching that I actually cried
A doctor of traditional Chinese medicine once told me that I might be a Chinese in my previous life
Now I think that is possible
When I was 18, I started to buy film
I took 50 rolls of film
And went to university in China where I took pictures everywhere I went
When I knew the Wild Children
I was touched by their music
It should be folk music
When you are young, your friends are your family
I took pictures of them recording, rehearsing
We are very close friends
Because we spent our youth together
Zhang Weiwei, I call him Zhang Vivi
He plays accordion and he is a happy man
I think as long as there is a person like him
Then I can stay in China
I always say to him
“You hold such an important position in my life”
The River Bar hasn’t opened for a long time
But it have received various figures
Writers, painters and filmmakers
This is a picture of Christopher Doyle
I was like “Oh my god, Christopher Doyle!”
And I just photographed, daring not to speak
The first time we (Anna and Liu Ye) met
It was at an art circle party
Only he and I were 23, 24
Our conversations were blunt and relaxing
But it was a long time before we met again
And I didn’t take a picture of him that day. I regret it.
Today (October 30th) is the 13th anniversary of Xiao Suo’s death
His death is the first tragedy in my youth
Two days after he passed away
We did a gig to sing his songs
And I took a picture of every one
To commemorate him
But when I developed the films
Half of them could not be developed
Xiao Suo, have you taken all these photos away to keep us with you?
“What was Xiao Suo like？”
He was a silent person
He didn’t have many words
But when he said something, he would say it with a big smile
He laughed when he spoke
“The Yellow River keeps running
It passes home, passes Lanzhou”
Then we were no longer together
Years later, the Wild Children set off again
At the beginning they performed in a small bar of 20m2
10 years later they held their concert in the Workers’ Stadium
I am so happy to see that
They still do music, they are still happy and they are still together
No compromise
I am glad that I recorded their start
Initially they lived in Dandian (Beijing)
It was really suburb at that time
I remember the first thing I saw when I got off the bus was a stray cat
Xiao He and Wan Xiaoli, they lived in Tiantong Garden
Such a big plastic board, I had no idea why they kept it there
Probably for warmth, or softer light
That is Wan Xiaoli
With his daughter in their own house
He was so skinny
I felt that a musician really couldn’t feed himself
Now there are so many people who recognize and love his music
I am so happy for him
At the present stage I want to do documentary photography
While you are recording
You shouldn’t let people be aware of your existence
So you have to make them accept you
To achieve this, you yourself also have to disappear, to be absent
You are watching, you are listening, you are looking but you don’t talk
I like that