Duan Yueheng

“The more we look at your black and white works, the more convinced we are by Lao Tzu’s words, ‘Iridescent colors cause blindness,'” I often joked with Mr. Duan Yueheng. As the times progress, photography has been flying off the shelves and are now as common in homes as TV sets. The continually improved accessibility of photography has brought up a flourishing creative environment, but it has also highlighted the problem of homogeneity in works. While numerous professional photographers struggle to seek their own characteristics, Mr. Duan’ works have undoubtedly achieved uniqueness and impressiveness.

In traditional Chinese painting, the artist's concepts are fully expressed through the creation of landscapes. It is also appropriate to describe Mr. Duan's photography works. When we look through his works, whether it is cloudsand haze between the mountains and lonely goose flying south across the pond, or dancing sands in the desert and shining moon hanging above the high mountains, we can find the same style in those diversified images, i.e.,concise and simple composition, rich and elegant grayscale, generous and free artistic conception, and deepand remote state of mind. Mr. Duan often said that he was deeply influenced by Ansel Adams. But to me, there is never shortage of oriental elements such as poetics and Zen in his works. Just look at the light and color that are not deliberately revealed but actually full of rhythm with the different shades of gray, how wonderfully it accords with the Chinese classical aesthetics, like the natural and unrestrained freehand brushwork in traditional Chinese painting.

With the development of photography, it has long been gotten out of the role of vividly depicting the object andentered the category of art, reflecting the creator's own cultural qualities and aesthetic appeal. So if the creator has no idea or layout in mind, the viewer would find the works tasteless like chewing wax. Just like Susan Langesaid: “The effect of artwork on us is to form our concept of emotion, vision, hearing and entity. It presents us with both imaginative forms and emotional forms.” The strongest feeling of appreciating the works of Mr. Duan is the unlimited inspiration of the creator and the space of imagination the works endow the viewers. His exhibitions and lectures in various places are always a gathering place for his fans with very diverse background and age. This may be a vivid example of how his works suit both refined and popular tastes, allowing different people to have different views on the works and gain different aesthetic experiences.

I have known Mr. Duan for a few years and we have amicable personal friendship. I have personally witnessed his courage of travelling to remote places at the age of 60s, from the bitter cold islands to the wild jungles, from the vast ice lakes to the boundless deserts. He would not only patiently wait for the dance of the red-crowned cranes in the icy waters of Hokkaido in February, but also drive hundreds of kilometers into the dangerous Gobi Desert, all by himself. As the ancient saying goes, “The strange and extraordinary views of the world are often far-reaching and untraversed; only those who has a will can get there”. This is exactly how to describe the birth of a work. What is rare is that Mr. Duan is still productive with strong creative enthusiasm, and embraces newtechnologies and new ideas in an open-minded manner to expand his artistic field. This is well reflected in hisskillful use of late-stage software, his eagerness to learn from the younger generations, and his constant attempts in non-landscape themes.

As a manufacturer of photographic device, I have always believed that photographers and manufacturer share the same ethos. The former pursues the ultimate in aesthetics while the latter pursues the ultimate in engineering. In essence, photographic device has extended the boundary of artistic creation for photographers. Every major development in technology will cause a major reconfiguration of the photographic art itself, destroying some ofits old perceptions while creating new concepts and techniques. Take the painter's brush and paint for instance, the purple paint in the oil painting was invented very late and this had directly limited the artist's creation. In turn, outstanding photographers can fully interpret and even sublimate the device; sometimes they can even surprise the designers themselves.

In the past few years, Mr. Duan has shot a large number of works with Sigma lenses and cameras. This collection of the works, Black and White with Sigma, contains the best of them. It is the third collection of works of Mr. Duan, and Sigma is honored to be an important part of it. Mr. Duan is extremely strict and prudent with this book, and ittook nearly two years from planning to publication. With his utmost effort, Mr. Duan strives to present the readers the most perfect experience from every detail of his works.

Wang HaoGeneral Manager of Sigma (China)February 2018