随着人类科技的疾速发展，我国的摄影事业也呈现出更多元的态势。有人坚守摄影艺术的本体特性，记录时代，留住历史；有人走向四方，去寻找心中向往的自然和人文；有人抱一治艺，主攻某种题材，并把它审美化、系列化；有人则走向世界，用摄影艺术语言与世界对话。人各有志，征程万里。摄影人在不同的价值取向和审美追求中，去追寻属于自己理想的诗和远方。

万毅 2015年在洛阳石窟采风

　　在上世纪九十年代就举办过摄影个展的年轻老朋友——万毅先生，走的正是这条用摄影艺术与世界对话的探索之路。2009年，PSA China，将PSA认证国际摄影赛事引入中国。万毅先生于2011年加入PSA China，并开始了“打龙”的漫漫征程，在年复一年的风雨长路中，频频荣获国际摄影十杰，斩获大奖众多。2019年万毅先生获得美国摄影学会铂金级的影艺超级大师名衔，在中国大陆获此殊荣名列前茅。

　　万毅的“平民人物肖像”既发挥了摄影艺术纪真写实的本体特性，又充分发挥摄影艺术语言在表达作者审美追求和价值取向上的特殊功能，形成了万毅肖像摄影的独特风格及神传意得的审美意含。

　　With the rapid development of science and technology, photography in our country is advancing by leaps and bounds. Photographers' pursuit of their art is also presenting a more diverse trend.

　　Some stick to the fundamental characteristics of photography by recording the times and chronicling history. Some search high and low to observe the nature and humanity their hearts yearn for. Some focus on certain subject matters and come up with aesthetic and serialized works. Others traverse the world and use photography to communicate to the world. People have different aspirations when they embark on their long journeys. Photographers seek their own ideals in different values and aesthetic pursuits.

　　Mr. Wan Yi, an old friend of mine who is by no means old in age, held solo shows as early as in the 1990s and has been exploring this path of dialogue with the world through photography.

　　PSA China introduced PSA-certified international photography events to China in 2009. Wan Yi joined PSA China in 2011 and began his long journey of collecting awards and distinctions. Over the years, he has won several times the Top 10 International Photographers and many other prizes. In 2019, he received the title of GMPSA/P, among the first few in mainland China.

　　I find in his more than 3,000 shortlisted works a wide range of subjects and a great variety of styles, including nearly 100 dazzling portraits, fascinating images of common people from all over the globe. Among them, one gets to see a bearded, cigarette-dangling tough rough man in a French street, a Spanish sailor looking distressed, frightened, depressed, and confused, an eagle-eyed and composed Greek security guard, a lovely little Amy in Ireland with her sweet expression and charming eyes, a worried and anxious-looking old man in Xinjiang driving a cart, an innocent and coquettish masked girl at an American carnival, a street tramp mockingly winking at the photographer, and a very kind and amiable old man in Argentina.

　　These candid photographs result from Wan Yi's eight-year campaign in winning international photographic competitions and represent some of his best artistic creations. They depict the living conditions of those surviving at the bottom of the human community, capturing the passions and moods of these common folks of the global village at the beginning of the 21st century.

　　Why is Wan Yi so taken up with portraits of common people? Back in his college days, his teachers often organized field trips to sketch and catch the expressions of characters. Wan Yi has brought this artistic accomplishment into photography and played it creatively. Therefore, his portrait photos are good at grasping the characters' instant expressions to mirror their inner world.

　　Wan Yi's Portraits of Common People select ordinary people at home and abroad as the subject matter. In form, they showcase the aesthetic creation and artistic expression of photographic art. Wan Yi pays attention to the choice of different characters' occupation, appearance, expression, temperament, demeanor, and spirit. In post-production, in order to highlight the subject, the background is purposely darkened to create a deep, heavy, solemn, and restrained atmosphere. In terms of light and shadow contrast, Wan Yi makes good use of backlight and sidelight to enhance the three-dimensional sense of the pictures. And in front light or scattered light, he uses the lens, the third eye, to bring out the subtlety in the subject's eyes that is elusive to the naked eye.

　　Wan Yi's Portraits of Common People not only bring into play the lifelike recording characteristic of photographic art, but also give full play to its special function in expressing the author's aesthetic pursuit and value orientation, forming his unique style in portrait photography and reflecting the aesthetic meaning of capturing the true spirit.