Industry News
Pursuing Dream in World of Light and Shadow--Interview with Yang Feng, Winner of 66th US "Benny Award" and Chairman of the Board of Great Aim Group發布時間：
Recently, the winners of the 66th "Benny Award", known as "Oscar of Printing Industry" in the US, were announced. Yang Feng, chairman of Great Aim Group, a famous real estate enterprise of Zhuhai, a member of Chinese Calligraphers Association and vice chairman of China Calligrapher and Painter Association, has won the "Benny Award" for his album of photos Pursuing Dream in Wilderness. Appreciating the sceneries of North America continent with the eyes of a Chinese, Yang expressed his unique thinking on the nature, ecology and the world with an aim to arouse the awareness of the public to protect the ecology. It was believed by the industry insiders that this reflected the world's recognition of the photography achievements and printing level of China.
It was reported that "Benny Award" was initiated in 1950, which was a big award for printing hosted by the Printing Industry Federation of the US and the most authoritative and influential product quality appraisal event of the printing industry. It was the highest honor award named after Benjamin Franklin, an inventor who had broguht a revolutionary development to the printing technology of the US. Honored as "Oscar of Printing Industry", it was awarded to commend the enterprises and individuals that had produced the best prints.
This year, over 3,000 enterprises from the world joined the competition for the award. Pursuing Dream in Wilderness, published by Central Party Literature Press, won the honor, standing for photography achievements and printing level of China.
In the exclusive interview, Yang said to the reporter, "I was very gratified when I learned that my album of photos could compete with international rivals on behalf of Chinese photography circle. It was a huge encouragement for me to win the honor in the photography circle which is filled with excellent camaramen and also a perfect leap for me in pursuit of best photos in those seven years. In the future, I will continue to pursue my dream in the world of light and shadow."
The limitless creativity of the world has endowed photography with realistic meaning and soul. Everybody has an individuality and his unique understanding of tradition and reality, art and life.
In 1970, Yang received his first camera. In 2006, his first albom of photos was published. In 2015, he won the US "Benny Award". Yang shared his own unique feelings, "Every photo amazes us not with framing of the time as usually believed by us. On the contrary, every photo proves that the continuity of time cannot be retained. Every photo tells us that our life is set to vanish and every photo has a holy halo."
Retaining of light and shadow with Browning box
Those who are engaged in real estate in Zhuhai should have heard about Great Aim Group and known that Yang Feng has three identities, a member of Chinese Calligraphers Association, vice chairman of China Calligrapher and Painter Association and chairman of the board of the group. That year, with the enthusiasm and perseverance of Hakka people, Yang Feng in his thirties resolutely resigned from his public service as a leader of state-owned enterprise and established Great Aim Group against the trend of the market. Step by step, he took root in Zhuhai and explored the profession with a global vision. Nowadays, following a philosophy of "Navigate for life quality pursuers" and advancing with innovation, he has led the group to go from Zhuhai to the world and take on a path of diversity with equal emphasis on real estate industry and high-tech industry. Therefore, in the eyes of industry insiders, Yang is an entrepreneur and artist with farsight, courage and insight.
In talking about his secret to success, Yang smiled and said, "In fact the more books you read, the less you feel you have known, the more you feel that there is always someone better than you, so you will never measure your life with success or failure." Beyond work, he often takes part in various art salons and sometimes he would disappear for a period just for taking photos. "In fact something is common between a cameraman and an artist. Perhaps it doesn't matter to others that you focus on the things you love, but it must be interest and persistence that make you insist until you make some achievements." Yang said.
Perhaps for this very reason, in 1970 during the Cultural Revolution, Yang Feng was still a juvenile and applied for serving in the army, but he was disqualified in the end. At one time he got in contact with a camera by accident, his heart was lightly and deeply touched by an inexplicable feeling. He desired to be a cameraman. However, camera was expensive at that time and there was also limited channel to buy one. Seeing that the son was so enchanted with camera, his parents determined to sell a pig that had been raised for more than a year to buy a Zhujiang camera for him. From then on, Yang Feng owned the first camera in his life. Like many kids, he carried a "Browning box" into the world of photography. When some scene was shown before his eyes, he was always eager to capture all the essence in the space of a photo. However, when Yang earned some fame for photography in his village, he was asked by the security team of People's Commune to "stop taking photos" because photography involved a special industry.
The encounter in his early youth had left an unforgettable and miserable memory on Yang Feng, but it had strengthened his willpower. He was not contented with plainness and would not stop in innovation and breakthrough, fearless of challenges and brave to pursue his dream and interest.
He was so brave that he founded Great Aim Group in 1994 when the real estate market of Zhuhai was declining. In 1999, he began to step into real estate and absorbed experience from Singapore to develop the first high-end housing project in Zhuhai, which created a "Yuehai miracle" of five price rises in one year. In 2000, when reconstruction of villages in the city was promoted in Zhuhai, he changed the group's development strategy and opened a new epoch for the housing market of Zhongshan City. In 2006, the group returned to Zhuhai and took the root by blending with local culture and advocated a new development philosophy of "Navigate for life quality pursuers". In 2011, the group sought after internationalized and diversified development and stepped into high-tech industry with innovation. In 2013, grasping the early opportunities, he invested more than 30 million Yuan to purchase white light communication technology patents and in the first phase spent 2 billion Yuan in building a headquarters for LED white light communication project in Hengqin New District.
"I am clear about my interest, what I want to do, can do and will do well." Yang said.
Revering the nature and respecting the life
With his success in career, the "Browning box" of his childhood has always faintly touched the heart of Yang.
In 2006, Yang accompanied his mother who was suffering cancer and returned to his hometown to fulfill his mother's wish to "returning to the roots". He could not help taking up his beloved camera and resumed the pursuit of his dream in light and shadow. Perhaps due to the outburst of his accumulated feelings and the call from some sense of mission, Yang desired to highlight the natural and ecological landscapes unique to the US. From then on, he traveled to the west of the US to take photos for over 20 times in 7 years. He had adventured into Grand Canyon Colorado, rushed into the Death Valley, got lost in the snowfield and wadded across waist-deep water. Finally, he finished an album of photos Pursuing Dream in Wilderness in 2013.
Like a long path, photography requires technique and persistence of the cameraman. To take a good photo, the cameraman usually has to face and deal with difficulty unimaginable to ordinary people.
Looking back to his photo taking experience, Yang was still scared, "The temperature difference between day and night at the Death Valley was very great. In the summer, the temperature was as high as 49℃ even in the shady area. However, to capture the first ray of sunlight in the early morning, we chose to camp at the Death Valley and spent an unforgettable night there." He added, "In doing anything, persistence and perseverance are needed. In fact, the two qualities should be flowing and carried in the blood of Chinese people all the time."
Standing on the mysterious and desolate land in the west of the US, enchanted by the amazing naturual beauty, Yang felt bitter that his motherland also has many primitive scenic areas, but when development was concerned, it meant building roads and charging ticket fares. As a result, many natural ecological systems not only cannot be protected, but are even destroyed. At this time, the story of the late scenery photographer Ansel Adams came into his mind.
"Though we can't stop the passage of time, with a camera we can capture and maintain unforgettable memories." Touching his own works, Yang explained his original intention for taking photos in the west of the US, "With black and white photos, Ansel Adams aroused the awareness of the public to protect the ecology, which even promoted the enforcement of National Park Act of the US. My photos have been taken not only to pay respect to the master, but also are intended to call on Chinese nationals to respect the life, revere the nature and protect the ecology by showing the natural and ecological landscapes of the west of the US."
In the eyes of Yang, each stone, each tree has its spirit, meaning and cultural values. He believed that only by really infusing one's thoughts and emotions can one take a good photo, stir up emotional fluctuation in the depth of the heart and touch oneself and the readers truly. "Photography is a medium for us to get closer to a purer self and a harmonious realm, so we can only try to make it part of our life experience, habits and feelings." He disclosed, "In the future, he will travel to the mysterious west of China to take photos, to record the ecological beauty of the nature and to further arouse the wareness of Chinese people to protect the ecology."
Of course, excellent photos require techniques and artistic cultivation of the cameraman. Other than enthusiasm in photography, Yang who has ever worked as a teacher is also very fond of calligraphy and painting, music and charity, which has enabled him to maintain a refined and elegant temperament while engaged in business. In the Calligraphy Association, a calligraphy or painting created by him can be sold at a price as high as 100,000 Yuan. However, he has never pocketed money with his works. Instead, each penny earned from his works was donated to public welfare programs. "You will feel double joys if you can insist on your interest and repay the society at the same time." This was how Yang had understood when he looked back to the past path.
Some people say, cameramen travel a lot. This is true. Perhaps only with passion in photography can one persist without hesitation. "From the moment I took up a camera, over 40 years has elapsed. Perhaps I am no more a layman, but I still consider myself as a pure amateur." Yang told the reporter.
In each step and trip, he was intoxicated by the uncanny workmanship of the nature; one mountain, one river, one grass and one tree, he recorded his enlightenment and love of the nature with a camera; one word, one phrase, one sentence, one article, he turned his emotions into an eternal language and deeply stored them in his memory. For Yang Feng, the process of taking photos is difficult, but it is worthwhile since he can leave a manifestation carrier of existence in the era with an independent personality.
All his fatigue has vanished instantly with the framing of light and shadow, whether after suffering various setbacks in the Death Valley for 19 days, or getting lost in the snow-clad land in The Wave, or wading across waist-deep water in Cannon Beach.