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海维尔·沃特斯（Hywell Waters，1976— ）是一位出生于津巴布韦，同时也一直生活和工作在津巴布韦的摄影家。对于这位年青的摄影家来说，他的作品最大的特点，就是选择了对色彩的全新挖掘，找到了属于他自己的异常艳丽又充满冲击力的色彩语言。如果用“色彩的震撼”来形容他的作品风格，恐怕也一点不为过——当然也有镜头的运用和视角的奇特等因素。

　　在他的画面中，人物的一种凝视可以是悲哀或者是对生命本源的探寻，关键是低角度的戏剧化的照明，将人物的肖像沐浴在蓝色的温柔光照中，而背景却是暖调的燃烧。还有一幅巨大的星空下的肖像，呈现出寂寞空旷的感受，同时孩子脸部被照明的暖调，同样与广袤的天空和环境的冷调构成了强烈的冲突。在另一幅画面中，一个计数秤在左右摇摆，就像是一个巨大的钟摆留下光的痕迹，同样结合冷暖的调性，从而使画面留下时空错乱的节奏。尽管图像本身并非是刻意而为，但是有目的的构成和对色彩的运用，却也不乏周密的计划的娴熟的技巧。自然的和人工的光线巧妙的融合，贯穿于他的所有的彩色照片中。加上慢速快门长时间的曝光和结合闪光灯的运用，更使画面构成了令人眼花缭乱的结局。很难想象这样年轻的摄影家已经具备了如此成熟的表现能力，不仅仅是技术上的，更重要是观念上的。摄影家在对胶卷和光线的实验过程中，重要的是创造一种感受，从而使画面摆脱了仅仅是技术带来的局限，上升到一个更高的层次，将他所熟悉的非洲人物表现得栩栩如生。摄影家尽量使画面简洁动人，高反差的对比色光又强化了他和观众的交流可能。画面的拍摄并没有使用特殊的镜头，他很信赖潘泰克斯5×7相机，他轻松地将其作为35mm相机来使用，从而完成他所需要的精彩画面，经常带有动感的效果。

　　津巴布韦是一片动荡不安的土地，那里孕育着希望又潜藏着危机。种族之间的紧张，贫困和健康的制约，加上政府的不稳定因素和对西方的盲目崇拜，成为现实中无法回避的敏感问题。沃特斯深深懂得摄影的力量，他并不是从一个旁观者的角度有意制造幻觉，而是希望通过对生活的提炼，找到通往希望的生存之路。他承认真实的客观性只是一种神话，人们的生存状态不可避免地染上他自己的主观色彩。然而在这些局限中，他通过自己的照片展现了他所理解的时空世界，他相信这也是一种公正。他的照片说出了人的状态，排除了政府的观点，排除了那些既得利益者的偏见，也排除了殖民地曾经带来的后遗症。所以在阅读他的肖像作品中，我们不可避免地会感到一种震惊，为这片土地的神奇，为这里人们的伟大，同时为摄影家的创意空间喝彩。

　　尼克·韦德罗斯（Nick Vedros），美国商业摄影师，在密苏里大学新闻学院开始摄影学习，毕业后的1977年，在其出生地堪萨斯州的商业区创建了自己的摄影工作室，以优异的黑白作品获得了国内和国际认可。柯达公司曾委派他为新产品拍摄广告，直至今日，他仍与柯达公司保持着亲密的合作关系。堪萨斯东西海岸的艺术总监们也总是不断地光顾他的摄影棚，他服务过的客户包括可口可乐、索尼、康柏、哈苏、IBM、微软、柯达、戴尔、APPLE等国际著名企业。

　　尼克曾任美国传媒摄影师协会中西部分会主席。美国传媒摄影师协会现有5000多名会员，占美国传媒摄影人员的1/3，是一批具有专业水准的摄影师。传媒协会的主要工作，一是给予摄影师经营上的指导；二是维护摄影师的权益；三是争取对摄影师有利的政策或法规的出台；四是教育摄影师更适应市场。1987年，柯达公司邀请了他与其他两位摄影师，参加柯达专业摄影师论坛的一个名为“观看的视觉”活动。此次活动历时五年，几乎带他走遍了美国大部分城市，其中还包括1991年的中国、韩国、朝鲜、菲律宾、马来西亚、新西兰和澳大利亚等国家的10座城市。1994年，作为从全美选拔的两位摄影师之一，他幸运地成为“哈苏”讲师。1995年，他的工作室被Studio Photography 杂志评为“年度摄影工作室”。2003年，柯达公司和APPLE公司曾邀请他到七个城市举办了14场关于数码影像的讲座。

　　从尼克身上可以很明显感觉到这样两个特征：热衷于摄影理论研究，他的私人图书馆拥有大量的摄影书籍，可以媲美大多数公共图书馆；迷恋摄影技术的革新，他始终坚持要使用最新最先进的设备来拍摄。“作为商业摄影师，要把握图片质量和拍摄周期。我想不通为什么有那么多人要把有价值的时间浪费在笨拙、过时的照相机上面（也许要考虑资金）。”

　　尼克的数码影像可谓异想天开的典范，在充满独创性的影像中掺入了荒谬的元素和幽默的细节。观看他的作品我们会不由自主地发问“这么多充满想象力的作品，创意从何而来呢？”尼克每天都会把创作的灵感记录下来，就像写日记一样。开始的时候会感到没有新鲜的创意，但是可以日积月累，积少成多。对创意影像的思考成为习惯后，就可以像每天睡觉那样快乐了。尼克还建议要从众多媒体的新闻信息中寻找创意，他每天都会坚持阅读三份报纸：《华尔街日报》（The Wall Street Journal）、《今日美国》（USA Today）和当地报纸。《今日美国》报的风格跟《华尔街日报》截然相反，它率先使用彩色印刷，异常慷慨地使用图片，报纸放在售报机里就像一幅静止的电视画面，有人形象地将其称之为“麦当劳报纸”、“快餐新闻”。

　　完美的创意需要优秀的画面表现，一个人的力量总是显得势单力薄，所以尼克组建了一个才华卓著的工作团队——摄影助理、制片和运营总监等，其中数码创意总监Mike McCorkle已经与尼克共事22年。现在已经是亚特兰大宪法报著名摄影记者的吉恩仍然非常感激尼克对自己的教诲。“我学到了很多知识，特别是影棚里面的拍摄经验。尼克是一位优秀的老师，非常有耐心地指导我们。最应该提到一点，他经常要把我们累得半死而且期望我们随叫随到。但是，现在想起来那些是无价的经验。”

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图/迈克尔·普林斯 文/杜秀波

　　最初，是“School Girl”这张画面吸引了我。自然的空间，和谐的色彩，可爱而亲切的表情！思绪瞬间回到那永远流淌着青春快乐与无忧无虑的初中校园……然而，迈克尔却向我推荐第二幅图片“Grey Locker”。“这是我最喜欢的作品！”，他说。我凭直觉判断这两个可人儿的模特肯定是他的两个宝贝！哈哈！结果正如我所料！

school girl

gray locker

　　迈克尔的这组作品中，每一幅画面都沉浸在特殊的色彩感觉中：亲近、随意、自然……至少已经最大限度地擦拭过摆布的痕迹，营造轻松的气息和对观众的感染力，让人忘记摆拍的做作和嫌疑。值得一提的是，迈克尔正是将这种融洽而美好的画面感觉与商业广告结合起来。我们可以重新观看一下画面，在温情的人像周围总会出现商品的影子。

　　在唯美流行的大潮中，商业人像的画面似乎永远强调浪漫魅态的流行和奢华高贵的时尚，作品不可避免地渐渐沦为商业化的平庸，原本强调人物个性的特质已变得淡化模糊。但是，迈克尔运用自己的色彩风格，关注周围的生活空间，甚至自己的儿子和女儿，为我们带来了视觉的温情和留恋。

　　“客户给予了我充足的创意自由和表现空间，让我试图避免商业化的光线等影响，而保持自然而亲切的感觉。”

　　迈克尔·普林斯（Michael Prince），在美国佛罗里达州东南部城市迈阿密长大。1985年从佛罗里达大学的通信专业毕业。经历过一段波西米亚式的生活后，他结了婚，随后搬到意大利的佛罗伦萨开始学习摄影。1989年，迈克尔又离开意大利。

　　做过一段新闻摄影记者之后，他选择了艺术摄影。他在纽约292画廊举办的第一个个人展览，获得了《纽约人》杂志的高度评价。不久，又在芝加哥，洛杉矶和旧金山的画廊展出作品。同时，其作品被几家博物馆和很多私人收藏。在这期间，他逐渐地接受商业图片的拍摄任务。

　　2000年，迈克尔真正而且异常积极地开始广告摄影的拍摄。在过去的这几年，他曾为朗讯科技公司、惠普公司、美国电话电报公司、诺基亚公司、LG公司、福特公司、日本东芝公司等世界著名公司拍摄过广告。

http://www.dpnet.com.cn/column/column_v3_show.asp?id=5955

曾经，我们介绍过纽曼的那幅成名作：《史特拉汶斯基》，现在我们觉得有必要将纽曼的人像摄影对大家做一个比较全面的介绍。

　　 作为以肖像拍摄著称于世的摄影师，不可能不知道什么是“人学”。形形色色丰富多彩的人物对于拍摄者来说是一个极大的挑战，而纽曼正是在这方面做出了让世人认可的成就！和其他行业一样，纽曼从事的肖像摄影并没有什么“捷径”可走，多年的美术功底、照相馆助手生涯以及从小就耳濡目染的旅馆生活对纽曼来说已经是一笔不小的财富，然而个人在艺术修养上的造诣却比这些财富更加难得。

　　特点，总是比较容易总结的。从纽曼大量的人像作品来看，几乎可以为他的作品下一个这样的定义：他的人像摄影更确切地说应该是“环境肖像”。在他的作品中，人物都被安排在最能代表其特点的独特环境中。借用中国道家的思想的说法：纽曼是在追求一种“物我合一”的境界。

　　鲁迅先生曾经说过，要想个刻画一个人，最好的方法是刻画他的眼睛。艺术的共通性在这里再次得到验证。纽曼的又一成功之处便是善于抓住拍摄对象流露出最有代表性的眼神的那一瞬间。我们可以看看这张为批判现实主义剧作家尤金·奥尼尔拍摄的肖像。画面中所流露出的冷峻眼光力透纸背，即便尚且无缘拜读他作品的人也能强烈地感觉到出自这位作家之手的剧作将饱含怎样的批判力度！而事实上，奥尼尔的剧作正是以敢于深刻揭露现实社会的不平与黑暗而收到社会舆论的极高评价，被誉为“美国现代戏剧之父”，他的《天边外》、《榆树下的欲望》、《悲悼》三部曲等堪称现实主义的不朽剧作。

　　凭借他当年在美亚米大学学习绘画时培养起来的美学修养，纽曼还善于将各种现实生活中活生生的道具以抽象元素的身份融合到他的肖像作品中。最有代表性的作品自然是我们曾经提及的《史特拉汶斯基》。在画面中，钢琴本身所具有的作为乐器的意义已经被解构，而只是成为了一种陪衬人物身份的抽象化的象征物。

　　纽曼的又一“绝招”或者准确的说是他的“怪招”是“撕照片”。这样的字眼用在一名摄影师身上听起来多少有些不协调，然而纽曼正是用这种不可思议的方式创造出了别有“风味”的摄影作品。下面的这张作品并不是对拍摄对象的不尊重，恰恰相反，照片上的人是纽曼的好友西奥多尔·基塞尔博士。并且纽曼是将这张照片作为礼物送给基塞尔博士的。两张照片中不同的神情以这种颇为怪异的方式重新组合起来，反而丰富了人物的性格。

　　在当时的摄影界另有一位加拿大摄影师卡什在肖像摄影方面堪称是纽曼的“劲敌”，尽管他们的摄影无论是技巧还是艺术性上都无可挑剔，但两人的作品却是风格迥异。且看下面的两张图片。

图1

图2

　　这两幅图片拍摄的是同一个人——小提琴家伊莎克·斯特恩。图1是纽曼的作品，而图2则是卡什的手笔。纽曼拍摄的肖像采取了近距离的拍摄，很好地表现出了人物的眼神，让观众感到一种亲切，但是近机位拍摄使被摄者的手部有些变形，着实有些遗憾；卡什的作品用光比较平均，画面中各要素的安排也比较错落有致，但略显失掉了些许个性的成分。

　　对于大多数人来说，我们熟悉一位摄影师都是从他呈现在我们面前的图片开始的，经常的，我们对于摄影师的了解也就仅限于此了。我们有幸获得了下面的资料，可以看看纽曼的幕后工作是怎样的。从前期准备直到完成一副肖像纽曼需要做些什么呢？

一见如故的晚餐

　　这次纽曼要拍摄的是弗兰西斯·克里格博士——世界上首次发现DNA及其双螺旋结构的科学家之一。纽曼为了拍摄一组《杰出的不列颠人》而有了这次拍摄计划。那天晚上，纽曼请克里格博士共进晚餐。纽曼认为，这是拍摄人物肖像很重要的一个前期准备工作。在拍摄之前哪怕只有5分钟的非正式接触也会对后来的拍摄工作起到很大的作用。在餐桌上，纽曼向克里格博士展示了他的组照中已经完成的比较有代表性的作品。纽曼这样做并不是为了炫耀自己，而是能让对方更加清楚地了解自己的拍摄意图，这可以为后来的拍摄工作省下不少麻烦。此外，感情、思想的交流是又一重要目的。经过短暂的接触，拍摄者和被摄者之间就达成了某种内心情感的交流，在具体拍摄时，双方就都不会太过拘禁了。想要得到自然神情的人物肖像作品，这可以说是一个诀窍。

绝佳的场景，顺利的拍摄

　　纽曼喜欢在正式拍摄前就将一切安排得尽量妥帖，以便拍摄人物一到就能马上进入拍摄状态。于是他早早地来到拍摄地点——迈阿密大学，在这里他挑选了一个宽敞明亮并且置有黑板的教室，纽曼认为，没有什么能比黑板更能象征科学家的身份了，他们思考问题、解决问题都是在黑板上进行的。事先，他特意致电克里格博士带好自己日常生活中穿着的衣服，这也非常有助于被摄者在拍摄时达到最放松的状态。

　　拍摄过程中的交流同样必不可少。因为想要获得一幅肖像作品而不仅仅是照相馆里千篇一律的人像照片，就必须让被摄者流露出自己最有特点同时又最自然的一面。事实上，无论是总统也好，平民百姓也好，面对镜头时总会有不同程度的紧张感。此刻，交流是消除这种紧张最好的方式。在下面这张“工作照”中，你会发现在纽曼最常用的4×5相机上有一根快门线，这是他为了更好地和克里格博士进行交流而特意使用的。

　　整个拍摄过程非常顺利，在一片谈笑风生中，纽曼拍摄了30多幅画面。作为一个经验丰富的肖像摄影师，纽曼知道，他想得到的东西已经在这些胶片中了。剩下的事情就是常人认为“枯燥”的暗房工作了。

裁剪——成功的秘诀

　　多年的摄影经验让纽曼对他自己所使用的相机、胶片、显影液、相纸等物质方面的东西都已经了如指掌。用什么样的显影时间、温度会达到什么效果，纽曼都已能有比较准确的“预判”能力，而真正让纽曼动足了脑筋的则是冲洗出来的画面该进行怎样的裁剪。

　　最后，经过一番精心的斟酌，不仅对画面的构图进行了修改，对其光影方面也通过局部遮挡的方式达到了一种协调。纽曼总算是对着它满意的点头了。

    今天我们来看看如何追踪高速运动的物体的拍摄，如何拍出其动感来，这是拍摄此类影像的关键所在。在拍摄这方面的影像，对于传统的自动对焦单反相机来说还是比较方便，但对于消费级数码相机来说可能要困难一些，数码相机的追焦能力常常不及单反相机 ，然而，我们还是可以运用一些拍摄的技巧，让一般的消费级数码相机也能在高速运动中摄获不错的影像。例如，我们可以将光圈缩小，获致范围较大的景深。例如，以一般的赛车、滑冰... 等运动，我们可以选择"转弯"的时机来拍摄，较容易追焦成功。此外，"预先对焦"或是随着运动员的方向摆动相机，"手动追焦"也是一个可行的方法。上图即是手动追焦的作品哦！

解决办法：
    1. 将相机的光圈缩小至 F8 左右。
    2. 选择动体转弯的场景，可以转弯道旁边的分隔物预先对焦。
    3. 在机车转弯时，随着骑士的方向摆动相机，这个部份需要多练习几次，才能很平稳地和运动员同速。

逆光拍摄是摄影用光中的一种手段。广义上的逆光应包括全逆光和侧逆光两种。它的基本特征是：从光位看，全逆光是对着相机，从被摄体的背面照射过来的光，也称“背光”；侧逆光是从相机左、右135°的后侧面射向被摄体的光，被摄体的受光面占1/3，背光面占2/3。从光比看，被摄体和背景处在暗处或2/3面积在暗处，因此明与暗的光比大，反差强烈。从光效看，逆光对不透明物体产生轮廓光；对透明或半透明物体产生透射光；对液体或水面产生闪烁光。
　　如果我们能将逆光摄影的手段运用得当，对增强摄影创作的艺术效果无疑是很有价值的。
    在逆光的场景下，人物的发丝会更明显、更漂亮，身体的边缘线也会呈现出来，整个人物会变的更立体。
    这也就是在摄影领域中，许多人喜欢逆光进行拍摄的一个重要原因。

以下，我们再针对逆光的拍摄，做一整理及说明

    以拍摄人像为例，太阳(或光线)在人像的后方，整个场景的光线分布，人像的脸部、正面，会呈现相对较暗的情况，这便是所谓的「逆光拍摄」。
    大部份的相机会预设以全部的取景画面做为测光的依据，由于逆光环境，人像的后方光线已相对较强，在平均计算之后，相机便会认为人像的正面之阴暗情况是正常的，这也就是逆光环境，会拍出『大黑脸』的原因.

解决方案

1. 我们可以使用「曝光补偿」的观念，来处理「逆光的摄影」，也就是增加曝光量来让脸部更亮一些，但是这种方法，会提升整张相片的亮度，所以不但脸部变得亮一些，背景也会跟着变亮，而导致背景的细节有所丧失。
2. 比较好的方法，是使用反光板，将光线反射在人物的脸部。例如下图，由于光线从模特儿的后面射入，我们在模特儿的前面以反光板，将光线反射在人物的脸部。便可以轻易地达成脸部的光线，为正常的曝光情况。
 
反光板的选择

    在艳阳下，可以使用白色的反光板，以求光线的柔和，在阴天，则可使用银色或金黄色的反光板，以求反射更多的光线。
    事实上，你也可以自制反光板，利用保丽龙板，银色的纸，剪贴成自制的反光板。

    逆光的摄影是一常用的手法，妥善地应用反光板或其它的补光器材，会让拍摄结果有意想不到的效果！

    人像的拍摄，在逆光的环境上，有时也可以纯粹的「剪影」来表现人物的轮廓及线条，形成不同的趣味。

    所谓的「剪影」，指的便是拍摄主体呈现全黑或近似全黑的暗部，而背景反而是曝光正常的景致。我们先来看白天里的人像剪影拍摄。如上例作影像，人物处于洞穴出口，主光源自洞穴之外，人像之后射入，形成一逆光的情况。由于拍摄主体和后面的的场景，曝光值差距在 2 个 EV 以上，我们只要以背后的场景为测光的依据，很容易便可以拍出「剪影」的效果。

拍摄要点提示：

1. 将测光模式切换至「点测光」。

2. 以人像后面的场景，例如绿色的树木，做为测光的依据( 得到一组光圈、快门的组合 )，测光之后，按相机的 AE Lock 钮，将曝光值锁定。

3. 然后调整构图，以方才的曝光组合，进行拍摄。

    夕阳下的人像剪影是一个常见的摄影主题，它是利用逆光的原理，表现出人像的肢体、情境以及优美的黄昏景致。在拍摄上，我们通常会使用「全手动」曝光模式，缩光圈、加快快门，以求让人像处于接近全黑、而天空又能表现出色彩为宜。消费级数码相机的最小光圈常在 F8 - F11 左右，若是光圈不够小，有时还需加上「减光镜」，才能让人像接近全黑的状态。

要点：
 寻找逆光的场景，夕阳的位置是在人像的后面。1. 将相机的拍摄模式调整至「全手动」模式。2. 先将光圈调整至最小，快门调整至最快，从 LCD 画面预视拍摄结果，以决定是否还需将光圈稍微加大。3. 若在最小光圈、最大快门的状态下，人物尚未达到接近全黑，则加上减光镜，再做拍摄预视。

总结： 
增强对比，调整美化天空色彩。

溪边人像拍摄

    这是一张不错的佳作,模特儿的表情动作自然,笑容100分,从照片的背景看来当时自然的光线并不强,所以摄影师利用反光板,或同步闪登从左边照射,由模特儿的左边皮肤较光亮得知！头发故意弄湿比较有戏水的动感,泳装选的很好,在单纯的背景下有抢眼效果,在摄影学中称为画面领导阅读,唯一比较不佳的地方为,模特儿靠前方的石头姿势不好,有碍瞻观！
　
 
背光人像摄影

背光的人像摄影室很难的技巧,因为光线从后方照射,测光很不容易,常会曝光过度或不足,背光摄影有一项特点,就是人物正面会比较暗,但看起来皮肤会很好,这张照片让模特儿站在玻璃落地门前,套以薄纱,以显示女孩,如天使一般的效果,造成一种人物向你靠近的亲切感,光线从测后方照射,使模特儿手臂,头发发光,为摄影技巧.渡金边,的效果,让阅读者感到人物的特别！
　
 
海边的佳作

    整个画面利用张力很强的斜角构图,造成不平衡不安定的感觉,很有动感,所以拍照时并不一定非水平不可,画面颜色很锐利,应该是使用偏光镜（加强颜色的特殊镜片）的效果,表情及动作很好,自然,利用反光板,或同步闪登从左边照射,由模特儿的左边皮肤较光亮得知,其实里昂认为,海边拍摄时最好能先让模特儿晒一下太阳,然后擦上防晒油,会让模特儿的皮肤有发亮的特效,让人有健康的感觉！
 
简单背景处理

这是一张日本明星的照片,模特儿的笑容和动作当然是没话说了,除此之外,摄影师用到了大光圈拍摄而产生短景深,似乎是要产生动感,但是我觉的这种画面颜色很多,很饱和的照片,如此做法,似乎并不是很理想,好象让观察者眼光不知如何为重点,人像照就应该尽量简化背景及减少不必要的分散要素,但是这张照片可以告诉我们,其实一个很简单的墙壁或壁画都可以当很好的素材,毕竟重点是人物不是吗！！
　
 
蹲着的效果也不错噢

    蹲着的人像照,在一般写真集及杂志上是运用的很广的动作,不但可以修饰模特儿比较不好的身材曲线还可以产生可爱的感觉,建议各位可以尝试几张类似的作品,不止是比较特别,而且不会像是拍照留念的枯燥感, 不过要注意的是光线的拿捏,因为蹲下的动作有时候脸部的光线会被档到而不足,或产生不好看的光斑,虽然不一定要使用上反光板,如果妳真的很没把握的话,建议不如就打上闪光灯吧！！

Craig's ambitious tend to make him see his future as enemy territory that has to be conquered and brought strictly under his rules. While I  seem to have a more relaxed relation to my own lifespan.

He is going all-out to triumph over the rest of his existence now. And I am more interested in finding out ways of enjoying myself.

IN A country where 800m people, about 60% of the population, live in the countryside on an average income of less than a dollar a day, rural backwardness weighs heavily on the minds of China's leaders as they dream of joining the ranks of the world's leading economies. And in a country whose Communist Party came to power on the back of a peasant rebellion, distant memories of the vehemence of rural discontent arouse fears that unless something is done to make peasants happier, China will be plunged into turmoil. To assess China's future, it is crucial to understand the countryside. But it is not easy.

Despite China's increasing openness to prying foreign eyes, the dynamics of village life remain hidden away. Although the Chinese media report extensively on rural problems, foreign journalists require government approval to conduct interviews in the countryside (as indeed, in theory, they do for any off-base reporting in China). Foreign correspondents can often get away with conducting unauthorised interviews in the more cosmopolitan urban areas, but rural officials invoke the rules with far greater regularity, fearful that critical press reports could damage their careers. The presence in a village of any outsider asking sensitive questions can quickly arouse official attention and often results in detention, the confiscation of notes and other materials, and orders to leave the area immediately.

Your correspondent originally asked the government of Shandong province for permission to stay in a village he had visited with official approval in the 1980s, but was turned down. Instead, the authorities selected the village of Beihe in Zouping, a prosperous county that was designated by China in the late 1980s as an area (then almost the only one) open to American researchers to do fieldwork. It still delights in its propaganda role. Zouping's brochure calls the county “a window for the US and the whole world to get an understanding” of the countryside. Yan Shengqin, Beihe's party chief at the time, still proudly displays a framed picture of Jimmy Carter with an arm around Mr Yan's shoulders during a visit in 1997.

Beihe's 1,000 villagers enjoy a net income per head of around 5,000 yuan ($600) a year—about 70% more than the national average and 40% more than the average for Zouping. It has more than 30 privately owned factories in activities from iron forging to furniture making. Peasants here say they would prefer to keep their rural-residence certificates, a relic of a once-rigid urban-rural apartheid system in China that barred peasants from moving to the cities. Now they are allowed to migrate more freely. But while the urban social-security system is in tatters, most country-dwellers are still entitled to farm (not to own) a small patch of land that can at least keep them from starving. Beihe's villagers prefer to stay put—unlike tens of millions of other peasants for whom even the insecurity and hardship of urban life is better than rural poverty.

Beihe's mobile-phone-owning peasants in their newly built courtyard homes with cable television and (in the case of at least 20 households) private cars may not be the best-placed people to give insights into the rural deprivation and injustice that have prompted a growing number of peasants to head to big cities in recent years to petition the authorities. (Even model Zouping had 603 such peasants in 2002 and 338 in 2003, compared with none at the beginning of the decade, according to county records.) Even so, the village does illustrate how sweeping economic and political changes in the past quarter-century have made China's villages far more independent from higher authority. They have also become far more dependent for their success or failure on the abilities of their own local leaders. In Beihe, as in many of China's 700,000 villages, ancient clans have played an important part in both of these changes.

The revival of village clannism is among the party's many worries about its grip on rural stability. In Beihe, more than half of the villagers share the surname Zhang. Among the rest, Yan is the biggest clan. The Yans and Zhangs live in distinct areas of the village. Yan Shengqin, the former party chief, happens to be one of the most senior within his clan's patrilineal hierarchy. It is to him, he says, that Yans turn to help sort out family disputes or officiate at weddings or funerals. Kim Falk, of America's Carnegie Mellon University, who spent 18 months in Beihe in the early 1990s, says relations between Zhangs and Yans appeared harmonious, as they do today. But it is easy to see how in other villages clan loyalties—as sometimes reported in the Chinese press—lead to bitter feuding between clans and struggles for control of village leadership jobs.

The dismantling of Chairman Mao's “people's communes” in the early 1980s allowed villages to re-emerge as independent economic units. Clans acquired a renewed interest in taking control. China's promotion of elections for the post of village head in the 1990s made it easier for them to do so. And more recent moves to have one person act as both village head and party chief have made it easier still.

Although Beihe began directly electing its village head a decade ago (and sure enough it was always Zhangs who won), the party chief, Mr Yan, was still the man in charge. This system of having separate elected and party-appointed leaders has caused widespread power struggles in villages, and nearly caused friction in Beihe. In 1999, a wealthy private businessman and member of a senior Zhang clan family, Zhang Fanggeng, was elected village head. Villagers knew that he had had a prickly relationship with Mr Yan. Some peasants who disliked Mr Yan had voted for Mr Zhang hoping that this would stir up a feud. “Some people said that within a month, there'd definitely be quite a show” between the two men, Mr Zhang later said in a report to higher officials.

Intervention from officials in Xidong township, to which Beihe belongs, as well as Mr Zhang's own common sense (struggling with the party is rarely a winning move), helped keep these tensions in check. Last year, the Shandong party leadership ordered that next time the province held village elections, ways should be found to ensure that the posts of party chief and village head be held by the same person in more than 80% of villages. Achieving this has involved allowing villagers for the first time to vote for the top party posts as well. The village party committee would still have the final say, but would generally pick the party member “recommended” by the most villagers as party chief. This person would also be appointed village leader. Last December in Beihe, Mr Zhang, who had conveniently joined the party, was a shoo-in for both jobs. His votes, tallied up in chalk on a garage door, are still on display.

Now in full command of the village, Mr Zhang has the task of untangling one of the knottiest problems left by Mr Yan—the fate of Beihe's malt factory, whose dour concrete façade dominates the village skyline of closely clustered houses surrounded by an expanse of fields. Once the mainstay of the village's economy, the factory is idle. Of its more than 200 workers, only its guard remains on duty. The village is hoping a private investor will take it off its hands, but it would take a courageous soul to do so with its 5m yuan of debt and a market for malt now dominated by bigger, better-quality producers.

The malt factory is the last relic of the collectively owned industrial complex that was once Beihe. As party chief, Mr Yan had used his networking skills and business acumen to follow the example of many villages around China in setting up enterprises that were owned and operated by the village. Mr Yan himself acted as manager of the malt factory. These were, in effect, state-owned enterprises and suffered the same problems—bloated workforces, inefficient management and a poor understanding of risk. As long as state-owned banks were willing to lend and local officials helped them secure markets, they could prosper. In Beihe they helped transform what had been a village of mud brick and thatch in the 1970s into a community of spacious concrete dwellings that many an urban resident would envy (apart from the primitive lavatories).

But tougher lending rules and fiercer competition in recent years have forced villages to close or privatise most of their collective businesses. This may mean Mr Zhang has a quieter time than Mr Yan (who though retired from village duties is now the general manager of a township fertiliser factory). Ms Falk says that in the early 1990s a constant stream of business delegations from around the country visited the malt factory. The road into the village thundered with malt-laden trucks. Now the village, like many others in China, has changed from conglomerate to real-estate dealer, trading on its one remaining commodity, its land.

With no more revenue from collective industries, the village's income is made up almost entirely of land rent paid by the privately owned factories. Beihe has recently decided to rent out a large tract of farmland to private investors to turn into a driving school and an auto-parts factory. The peasants who had used the land to grow wheat and corn are being compensated according to how much they would have earned from these crops. This is a meagre sum, it is true; but since they do not own the land and most of them have jobs in the private factories, they are not complaining. Millions of other peasants in China who have been turfed off the land in recent years by villages eager to profit from developers are far less happy.

Beihe's bet is that the success of private industry in the area will boost incomes and with it demand for cars. More car owners will mean more demand for driving schools such as the one being built in the village (in China, learner drivers are not allowed on roads). A rosy future, perhaps. If only Beihe were more typical

Apr 7th 2005 | BEIHE VILLAGE, SHANDONG
From The Economist print edition

China and South Korea have excoriated Japan over its approval of new school books which they say whitewash the atrocities committed during Japanese occupation. The lingering bitterness over Japan’s past imperialism still threatens to mar relations between the big East Asian powers

JAPAN’S prime ministers and its emperor have apologised to China for the brutal conduct of the occupying Japanese army in the 1930s-1940s on no fewer than 17 occasions since the two countries restored diplomatic relations in 1972. Seven years ago, Japan also made a written apology for its harsh colonial rule of the Korean peninsula, in 1910-45. But its expressions of regret have never been seen as quite sufficient, especially by China. So, though relations between the East Asian powers have improved greatly since the end of the second world war, Japan’s big neighbours remain acutely sensitive to any words or deeds on its part that suggest a lack of genuine contrition.

The latest such act of perceived impenitence is the Japanese government’s approval of a set of school books written by nationalist historians, which reportedly omit or gloss over such wartime atrocities as the rape of thousands of “comfort women”, captured and used as sex slaves by the Japanese military. Furthermore, to South Korea’s fury, one of the books asserts Japan’s claim to a group of rocky islets that Korea possesses and calls Dodko, which the Japanese call Takeshima. On Thursday April 7th, South Korea’s foreign minister, Ban Ki-moon, had what officials called a “very frank discussion” (ie, a blazing row) with his Japanese counterpart, Nobutaka Machimura, over the issue, telling him that the books had “greatly enraged” his countrymen.

In China, where the fury over the books is even greater, the country’s largest retailers’ association is urging its members to boycott Japanese goods. As in Seoul, the foreign ministry in Beijing has summoned the Japanese ambassador to express official anger. On Beijing’s streets, demonstrators are also reported to have attacked Japanese-owned stores. On Tuesday, Japan said it had asked the Beijing government to help it ensure that Japanese investments in China, and Japanese citizens there, were safe.

China’s own school books are harshly critical of Japan’s conduct in the 20th century’s wars, so even Chinese far too young to remember them harbour strongly anti-Japanese feelings. Last August, after Japan’s victory over China in a soccer match in Beijing, Japanese flags were burnt and a Japanese diplomatic car was vandalised.

Rows over the wording of Japanese history books have been flaring up for a quarter of a century, most recently in 2001 when a previous version of the books at the centre of the current controversy was submitted for approval. Then, the Japanese government demanded over 100 revisions to try to answer the accusations of “airbrushing history”. The government points out that Japanese schools are not obliged to use the approved texts and, indeed, many do not. But to the Chinese and South Koreans, that is beside the point. It is unfortunate that Japan and its neighbours did not set up an equivalent of the Franco-German history textbook commission that, soon after 1945, sought agreement on a common account of the two countries’ bitter history.

This time, the row over school books comes in the wake of several other regional disputes. Japan’s Shimane prefecture designated February 22nd this year as “Takeshima Day”, underlining its claim to the disputed islands and triggering protests in Seoul. And recently the Japanese government took control of a lighthouse built by its nationalists on another set of disputed islands, which it calls the Senkaku, while China, which also claims them, calls them Diaoyu. China is sending ships to an area near the islands, looking for oil and gas, while Japan is thinking of doing the same, raising the scary prospect of a confrontation between their navies. Last November, Japan demanded and got an apology after a Chinese submarine was caught in its (undisputed) waters. In February, it was China’s turn to get rattled, as Japan joined America in making a statement that Taiwan (which China regards as a renegade province) was a mutual security concern. Were tensions over Taiwan to escalate, the issue would quickly dwarf that of school books and uninhabited islets.

China and Japan have, of course, been rivals for the best part of a millennium. For much of that time, China had the upper hand. But from the mid-19th to the late 20th centuries it was in decline while Japan was in the ascendant. For the past three decades, since Deng Xiaoping began to convert China’s economy to market-led capitalism, China has been on the up again, whereas Japan has stumbled since the 1990s.

For all their rivalries, there are plenty of signs that Asia’s two great powers are edging closer together. Last year, China overtook America to become Japan’s biggest trading partner. Japan has been China’s biggest trading partner in three of the past four years. Moreover, both countries are working with neighbours to launch a broader and deeper East Asian Community. Most important of all, China and Japan, along with South Korea and Russia, have been willing collaborators in the American-led effort to persuade North Korea to relinquish its nuclear-weapons programme.

However, there has been no official visit to China by the Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, since October 2001, and none by the Chinese president to Japan since 1998, when Jiang Zemin went. Overcoming the bitter memories of the 20th century’s wars and building a genuine partnership to ensure they are not repeated will require movement by both sides. Japan could withhold approval from school books that sanitise the awful truth about its wartime record; and it could offer more compensation to the victims of its past occupations. As for the Chinese, it would require a willingness to sanction a joint textbook commission in which historians would be free to examine the two countries’ past, a readiness to give up anti-Japanese propaganda, and a willingness to engage in serious negotiations about disputed waters. Only then might East Asia finally consign its past conflicts to the history books.

Apr 8th 2005
From The Economist Global Agenda

it' s strange the way Yan always comes up in my mind at moments like this. Almost every time I have a crisis I think of her. It's as if she has become my replacement of God or something. She kind of hangs about in my head and makes me feel I mustn't be too crappy.

I wish she'd go away—well, not her but my own warped version of her. I mean there's no real reason why certain human beings should not spend their lives working in dumb jobs if that's what they prefer. Why should I have to prove I'm special? Maybe I am not.