卤煮店老板30年镜头记录老北京变迁 | Hutong Photographer

With a camera around his neck, this wandering old gentleman is, however, no tourist at all, but a Beijing native. His photographic journey through the city's famous hutongs started in the 1980s, when he hung around, trying to capture any interesting views. His neighbors used to think of he had a screw loose.

挂着相机穿梭在北京胡同里的这位大爷，并不是外地游客，而是一位土生土长的北京人。早在80年代，他就扛起了相机，开始在胡同里晃荡、逮景，还因此被邻居当成“神经病”。

Left: Jia Yong, 1986

30 years later, you can find the same kind of wanderers with their cameras on almost every corner.

他这一晃，就是30多年。如今，满大街都是挂着相机四处逮景的“神经病”了。

This 55-year-old man is Jia Yong, who's been living in south Beijing with five generations of his family. Now he runs a luzhu - stewed pork offal - restaurant in the Dashilar shopping street which is south of Tian'anmen Square. This restaurant is renowned for the black-and-white photos upon its walls, and in those photos, Jia has preserved what the hutongs used looked like decades ago.

他叫贾勇，今年55岁，从小住在北京南城；算上父辈与儿孙，五代都生活在此，是标准的老北京。目前，他在大栅栏经营一家卤煮店。这家店的特别之处在于，它的墙上挂满了黑白照片。这些照片都是贾勇用胶卷记录的北京胡同的变迁。

Craftsmen who sharpen scissors and knives, laborers loading honeycomb briquettes, little girls going to school together and bicycles sailing through the hutongs, all were common sights in the old town of Beijing, but they were all special to Jia.

走街串巷“磨剪子咧戗菜刀”的手艺人，往三轮车上装蜂窝煤的工人，胡同里结伴上学的小姑娘，巷子里穿梭的自行车……这些北京老城里的“日常”，对贾勇却有着特别的意义。 

"I shot these photos to preserve the old fashions, not for money or fame. This is the district where the traditional Beijing cultures, including the old films and the Peking Opera, emerged," Jia explains.

“我拍这些照片，是为了把这些老的念想留下来，不为名利。这里是老北京电影、京剧的诞生地，好多真正的老北京文化都集中在这个地区。”贾勇解释说。

How did he become a restaurant owner and photographer at the same time?

卤煮店老板是如何与摄影结缘的呢？

Because of his artistic background, Jia had been assigned to work in the Beijing Enamel Factory. New things started to spring up with China's reform and opening up, and, during this period, Jia found photography. However, he could hardly afford to pursue this hobby on his salary, so he started his own businesses, which included drawing portraits for passers-by, developing camera film for the tourists, and even selling vegetables just to earn enough to buy the lenses and films.

年轻时因为有美术基础，贾勇被分到北京珐琅厂工作。那时正值改革开放，新鲜事物涌进国内，他则在这趟大潮中捡起了摄影这块“石头”。不过，那时的工资并不足以支撑这个爱好。于是，他上大街给人画相，在天安门给人冲卷，还卖过菜，只为挣外快买镜头和胶卷。

"It all started in 1984, but without a clear purpose initially, nor did it have the humanistic ideas. In terms of professional technique, I was also pretty amateur. I just shot whatever I saw, but I was enjoying it."

“我从1984年开始拍胡同，那时也很盲目，没有人文思维，从专业摄影角度看（技术）也不成熟，就是想到哪拍到哪，可我就是特别喜欢这个东西。” 

Unlike most people who travel to the outskirts of the city and shoot the landscape, Jia simply wandered through the nearby hutongs, which made his neighbors mutter things like "Has he gone nuts?" and "He must have way too much film in the house."

因为他不像其他人那样拍摄自然风光，而是在家门口的胡同里转来转去，从前门外走到天桥，又从磁器口走到宣武门。邻居们犯嘀咕了：“这人是不是有病？”，“他们家胶卷没处使了吧？”

Luckily, his photography teacher was kind and very supportive: "Landscape photography is boring. Whatever you like, wherever you know better, just shoot it. You'd nail it with unique perspectives."

好在那时摄影老师和他“臭味相投”，一直给予他鼓励。老师对贾勇说：“拍风光有什么劲？你喜欢哪、了解哪，你就照哪，保证拍得到位，拍得不一样。”

Jia is fond of the traditional Beijing culture. He hopes people can see the changes that happened to these places as his photos are records of time. 

而贾勇喜欢的，正是老北京的文化。他觉得，起码通过这些照片，大家能看出这些地方在过去几十年中发生的变化。照片起到的，主要是记录功能。

In the past several decades, Beijing has undergone large scale reconstruction. Jia didn't think that what he'd shot would disappear and change completely, but it eventually dawned on him that his photos are much more valuable than he thought they were, as they now have a unique sentimental value. When taking his photos nowadays, he wonders to himself, "Will this remain?"

近几十年，北京经历了不断的拆改。贾勇当初也没想到，他拍的东西竟会消失。正是这意外“惊喜”，让他越发觉得这些照片有价值。渐渐地，他拿起相机前就会思考：“这个东西以后能留下来吗？”

What impressed Jia most was in 2004, when he strolled through a hutong and saw a demolition worker about to hammer a delicate, ancient tile. He rushed to stop him and save this centuries old relic. Jia bought him a carton of cigarettes in exchange for the tile, which he still keeps at home.

贾勇印象最深的“文化事件”发生在2004年。那天他经过煤市街的一个胡同，正好见着拆迁工人轮着大锤要砸一块砖花。当场他就急了，赶紧走上前去和人家交涉，想把这些藏着几百年历史的老物件“救”回家，后来还去附近的小卖部给工人买了条烟。最后，贾勇用塑料袋装着那沉甸甸的砖花回家了。这块砖花至今还在他家中。

"What is culture? It is actually the way generations of people live in a place. Simply speaking, it's our manners that have eventually settled down as the local culture. My intention is to try my best to preserve the hutong culture."

“什么是文化呀？实际上是几代人，包括我们小时候看到的父辈那波人，在一个地区是怎么生活的。说俗点，‘吃喝拉撒睡’形成一个习惯，就是地方文化了。我的想法是，北京胡同里的这种文化，能保留一部分，就保留一部分。”

Seeing an old man smoking a pipe while sitting against the wall, Jia took the photo, saying "This is the style." His subject smoked harder and nodded: "The Beijing style exactly." Neither of them found it embarrassing or strange to talk to a total stranger. Before he shot an elderly woman, he eased the tension by saying "No need to be shy for a 'post-80 like you!" The old woman then relaxed and laughed heartily in front of the camera.  

看见有大爷在胡同的墙边坐着，扶着烟斗吞云吐雾，他就走上前去，利落地“咔嚓”一下，一边还和人聊天，说“这就是范儿”。大爷也砸着烟嘴，不住地点头，“北京爷范儿，那是啊”。空气中充满了“北京爷们”的默契，丝毫没有生分的尴尬。遇上遛弯的大妈，他也嘻嘻哈哈地端着相机，幽默地给人家做拍摄前的“思想工作”：“都80了，您还害什么羞”。大妈听完，也忍不住在镜头前哈哈大笑起来。

As he grew up in the hutongs, Jia couldn't be more familiar with the traditional ways of Beijing life. 

作为一个在胡同里长大的人，这种胡同特有的“烟火味”，贾勇再熟悉不过。

In 30 years, he has taken over 100,000 pictures and, though the lifestyles and people eventually faded away, his photos will always give us a glimpse at what the hutongs once looked like.

三十年来，贾勇就这样攒下了10万张照片。哪怕市井慢慢消失，照片中的人也慢慢消失，它们仍然穿越时光，静静展现着北京胡同真实的样子。

Director：Jiang Xiaohan

Editor：Li Yuan, Gao Xingzi

Filmed by: Liu Xu, Zhao Junjie

Designer：Yu Peng

Article Written by: Yao Xinyi

Copy Editor: Josh McNally

Producer：Wen Yaru

Chief Editor: Liu Hui

Supervisor：Pang Xinhua

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