著名摄影家袁廉民从20世纪70年代开始拍摄黄山，从此与黄山结下不解之缘。30余年间登山150余次，发表黄山摄影作品1300余幅。有学者称袁廉民为黄山的“当代知音”。人的知音难寻，黄山的知音难当。30年，“风风雨雨，朝朝暮暮”，多少次黎明、黄昏，袁廉民坦然面对，无怨无悔；多少个春节，袁廉民放弃与家人团聚，奔赴黄山，在大自然创造的晶莹、墨黛的天然乐章中，忘情地徜徉、捕捉。袁廉民以虔诚之心与黄山相依相恋，终成知音。历史上能配得上当黄山知音的人寥寥可数，在摄影家中有郎静山、卢施福、吴印咸、黄翔等；在画家中有渐江、梅清、石涛、黄宾虹、刘海粟、李可染、赖少其等。

　　黄山也成就了袁廉民的摄影艺术。袁廉民黄山摄影中的山石流泉云海松涛，虽然仍属具象词汇，然而画面却散发出中国艺术特有的意象精神。无生命的客体自然，在袁廉民镜头的整合下，建构成非常人性化、精神化、审美化的意象，传达出黄山那独特而“宏博富丽”的灵性和魅力。袁廉民没有选择“一般游人所熟悉”的景点，而着意于“发现黄山尚未经人发现的美”。袁廉民黑白摄影作品《风雪长途》就是这类佳作之一。深色的松干，极富有量感和张力，构成画面主体。垂直的松干上部折向右上方，扭曲、顿挫中显示出刚毅与力量。而细密的松枝又由右向左伸展，这一右一左在画面上造成静中之动。松干的大体块与细密枝条形成实与虚的对比关系，松干与略蜿蜒而呈垂直趋势的山道又构成前与后的呼应关系。山道石阶的水平线由下而上递减与变化，加强了画面的节奏感。袁廉民的镜头在司空见惯的具象自然物上发现了富有抽象意味的形式美感。在欣赏者的眼中，松干已经幻化成一位老人，饱经沧桑，静静地矗立山崖旁，阅尽黄山，阅尽人生，阅尽历史。袁廉民做人从艺的认真、严谨与执着，以及他的知识结构、文化素养最终使他的黄山风光摄影超越了技术，超越了客体，超越了自我，创作出一大批表现整体黄山博大、雄伟、变化万千的形式美感以及深具文化底蕴与人文精神的作品。

　　从摄影集编辑的角度看，大容量的摄影作品，有通栏式的，有图录式，穿插、交错，版式生动活泼。画册内以各种风格的书法作品，与摄影家作品和谐互补，相得益彰。画面、诗文、书法融为一体，内容丰富多彩，袁廉民黄山摄影集，无疑会成为对黄山的一次精神性导读，黄山的独特文本，在人的视觉和心灵中将留下无穷的意味，令人难以忘怀。

　　学者冯其庸先生曾说：“黄山能得到廉民兄为之传神写照，山灵有知，也当感激不尽了。”我想，袁廉民个人能有今天的辉煌，一定也会发自内心地感激黄山，摄影家与黄山互动的神交与会心，这才像是真正的知己与朋友呢。

（原载2002年9月12日《人民日报》刘继潮文，本文有删节）

　　Yuan Lianmin, a famous photographer, began his photographing of Huangshan Mountain in 1970s, thence tied to it. Over three decades, he has climbed the mountain more than 150 times, publishing over 1,300 photographs. Some scholar called him the “contemporary bosom friend” of Huangshan Mountain. Being such a bosom friend requires immense fortitude and persistence. Over the 30 years, Yuan spent countless dawns and dusks in Huangshan Mountain, regardless of the weather. He gave up New Year reunions for Huangshan Mountain, where he selflessly lingered in and captured the sublime beauty of nature. With such dedication, Yuan became a bosom friend of Huangshan Mountain. In history, only a few could be such bosom friends, including photographers such as Lang Jingshan, Lu Shifu, Wu Yinxian and Huang Xiang etc., and painters like Jian Jiang, Mei Qing, Shi Tao, Huang Binhong, Liu Haisu, Li Keran and Lai Shaoqi etc.

　　For Yuan, Huangshan Mountain is a source of inspirations, on which his achievements depend. The mountain rocks, fountains, clouds and pines in Yuan’s photographs, concrete objects as they are, present the unique imagery and spirituality of Chinese arts. Before Yuan’s camera, lifeless natural objects become humanized, spiritual and aesthetical, delivering the unique “magnificent and gorgeous” character and charm of Huangshan Mountain. Instead of scenic spots familiar to common tourists, Yuan seeks to unveil the “undiscovered beauty of Huangshan Mountain”, typified by his black and white work of Long Journey of Wind and Snow, in which the dark-colored trunk, rich in feelings of quantity and tension, constitutes the main part of the painting. The upper part of the vertical trunk inclines towards upper-right, showing fortitude and strength through the twist and fluctuation, while the dense branches stretch from right to left, making the imagery dynamic in a static backdrop. The chunk of trunk contrasts with the dense branches, while echoing the slightly winding path. The horizontal line of the steps on the path descends and changes, strengthening the rhythm of the image. Yuan's camera identifies the abstract formal beauty from common sights. In the eyes of the viewers, the trunk has miraculously transformed into an old man who, after experiencing too many vicissitudes of life, stands silently beside the cliff, reading through Huangshan Mountain, life and history. Yuan, through his dedication to art, carefulness and persistence as well as his knowledge structure and cultural attainment, finally enables his landscape photographing to surpass the technical level, the object and himself, creating a large number of works with profound cultural deposits and humanistic spirit expressing the magnificence of Huangshan Mountain, the ever-changing formal beauty and humanistic spirit.

　　From the perspective of album editing, large-capacity photographs in various forms, such as banner and catalog intersect and cross to present a vivid layout. The album also contains succinct textual descriptions, made by scholars and painters. Besides, calligraphic works of various styles harmoniously complement the photographer’s works. The integration of paintings, texts and calligraphy enriches the album. Undoubtedly, Yuan’s photograph album is a spiritual interpretation of Huangshan Mountain, and the unique texts will imprint an indelible mark on the viewer both visually and mentally.

　　The scholar Feng Qiyong said: “Huangshan Mountain would be grateful if it knew that Yuan greatly enhanced its fame with his works”, while I think, Yuan has to ascribe his achievements today to Huangshan Mountain. Only when the photographer and the mountain interact and exchange their souls are they true bosom friends. (abridged version of the original article of Liu Jichao on People’s Daily on Sep.12, 2002)

作者：刘继潮